Apple to unveil watch at virtual event, but no phone this year

Apple will kick off a broad slate of new products at a virtual event today, with upgrades to two of its most important hardware lines beyond the iPhone.

The Cupertino-based technology giant will debut an Apple Watch, likely to be called the Series 6, with features such as a faster processor and a blood oxygen meter, according to people familiar with the product. The new Watch will come in the same 40mm and 44mm sizes as the current models. The company is also planning a new lowend model to help fend off cheaper offerings from rivals such as Fitbit.

The Apple Watch has become one of the company’s best-selling devices, making it the biggest contributor to Apple’s wearables and accessories division. That segment generated revenue of $24.5 billion in fiscal 2019, almost double two years earlier.

The Apple Watch was last updated in September 2019 when the company added an always-on screen and new cases. This year will be the first time since 2016 that two new models are released at once.

Apple’s event will also be notable for what won’t be unveiled: new iPhones. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted final testing of new 5G models earlier this year and delayed the company’s ability to kick off mass production. Apple now plans to announce its four new iPhones in October, marking the latest iPhone announcement since 2011. Some of the phones could even ship later than the iPhone X, which went on sale Nov. 3, 2017.

With an announcement in October, Apple will miss the usual couple of weeks of new iPhone revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ends this month, along with a few weeks of sales in the key holiday quarter. That could push the typical year-end iPhone revenue surge into 2021. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

For today, Apple is also readying its first update to the iPad Air since re-launching the line in March 2019.