Apple Watch 2 release date, features, apps and specs

Apple Watch 2 specs

Apple Watch boasted a significant amount of new technology and design features, such as the Digital Crown, Force Touch sensor, Taptic Engine and customisable watch faces.

Features that are likely to remain largely the same on the Apple Watch 2 include the Digital Crown and Taptic Engine.

We would also expect some incremental improvements, such as 3D touch (as seen on the iPhone 6s) replacing Force Touch and additional watch faces.

Several of the new features of the original Apple Watch were unforeseen, so it is quite possible the Apple Watch 2 will include technology that no one has yet speculated on.

The original Apple Watch featured the S1 "system-on-a-chip", which was built specifically for the smartwatch, as well as an optical heart rate sensor on the rear of the case and standard fitness sensors including an altimeter, gyroscope, pedometer and accelerometer. The Apple Watch 2 will likely feature a new SoC (we would imagine this would be called the S2, as per the naming convention for Apple's iPhone SoCs, which follow a standard numerical pattern).

Existing sensors are likely to remain, but others could be introduced as well.

Jane McCallion
Managing Editor

Jane McCallion is ITPro's Managing Editor, specializing in data centers and enterprise IT infrastructure. Before becoming Managing Editor, she held the role of Deputy Editor and, prior to that, Features Editor, managing a pool of freelance and internal writers, while continuing to specialize in enterprise IT infrastructure, and business strategy.

Prior to joining ITPro, Jane was a freelance business journalist writing as both Jane McCallion and Jane Bordenave for titles such as European CEO, World Finance, and Business Excellence Magazine.