Apple Watch 2 and 4-inch iPhone 6C Release Dates; Will Apple MacBook 2016 Be Unveiled?

By Mark Rollins
Apple Watch
Apple Watch. Photo: Apple

Apple lovers may be anxiously awaiting the release of 2 new products- the second-generation Apple Watch and the new iPhone 6c. Apple is planning to unveil the 2nd generation Apple Watch at a March 2016 event, with a shipping date sometime in April. That would make it almost a year after the 1st watch went on sale. Their unnamed sources say that the new "iPhone 6c" with a 4-inch display could also be announced at this March event, and the new MacBook could be announced at that time as well. 

According to 9to5Mac, the future Apple Watch technologies had been in the making since even before the 1st generation of the Apple Watch shipped. It is not known exactly what new additions we will be seeing on the watch being announced in March, but we know that Apple has been working on a new FaceTime camera, a new wireless capability to allow the Apple Watch to depend less on the iPhone for data, and health sensor technologies. The last update of the Apple Watch in September gave its users new colors, bands, and software features.

The iPhone 6c is the other new Apple product to be revealed. It will have the smaller 4-inch displays like the iPhone 5 that was released in 2012. The smaller display is also seen on the iPhone 5s and sixth-generation iPod touch. The ease of which to use the smaller displays with one hand- compared to the 4.7-inch displays on the iPhone 6s and the 5.5-inch displays of the iPhone 6s Plus, which makes it preferable to some Apple users. The iPhone 6c was originally rumored to be released in 2015 as a low-cost option to the 6s and 6s Plus, but those plans were apparently scrapped, according to MacRumors

Other rumors about the new features of the phone indicate that it will be available in an aluminum casing (as opposed to the plastic casing of the iPhone 5c in "at least two to three color options" according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo believes the rumored phone could include an A9 processor, while Mac Otakara (the Japanese site) believes the iPhone 6c will include the A8 chip. 3D Touch, which is a pressure-sensing feature on the iPhone 6s and the 6s Plus, will not be available on this lower priced model. The features rumored are- 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, 8-megapixel rear facing camera, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing, camera, and 2.5D curved edge cover glass- like the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus has.

If the announcement date rumored for the 2nd Generation Apple Watch and the iPhone 6c slated for March is correct, it will be an annual repeat of last year when the 12-inch MacBook was announced in March 2015. Will we see a MacBook update on that as well? Leave your comments about what you would like to see in Apple updates in 2016.