While the Apple Watch 7 was unveiled alongside the iPhone 13 and iPad mini 6 in mid-September, unlike its contemporary products pre-orders never opened and it hasn't gone on sale yet. We're still waiting for official news on the matter.
A prolific leaker, Jon Prosser, has weighed in via his website Front Page Tech. According to Prosser, lots of insider sources have stated that the Apple Watch 7 will go on sale "as early as next week" - that means the week commencing October 4.
We'd take this with a pinch of salt, as Prosser has a chequered history of leaks in the past, but AppleTrack still gives them a 74.6% accuracy rating, and people who have scored far worse on there are still frequently correct.
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That date is presumably for when pre-orders will open up, and we'd expect a full release date a week on from that - if Prosser's 'next week' is correct, that'd be the week of October 11.
It's worth pointing out that Prosser's wording is quite uncertain, leaving space for the Apple Watch 7 to come out later than we've said above. So don't get your hopes too high, but hopefully the devices will be with us before November.
Analysis: too little, too late?
The Apple Watch 7 doesn't present a whole world of upgrades from the Watch 6 - in fact, we keep forgetting it was announced at all, as it was overshadowed by some of Apple's other products at the launch event.
The iPad mini (2021) provided loads of upgrades over its 2019 counterpart, and continued Apple's trend towards making its mid-range slates look like its iPad Pros. That tablet was the scene-stealer of the night, which is why we say we have forgot about the Watch 7.
In addition, there isn't long to wait until Black Friday Apple Watch deals start, as some of the earliest kick into gear in early November. There's no point buying a brand new wearable now, when you could pick up a very similar one for a bargain price just weeks afterwards.
That's always the risk of releasing products later in the year, and while Apple's releases are usually early enough to avoid the clash, in 2020 its devices all launched late and people still ate them up. So it's probably not something the company is too worried about - but if this was anyone but Apple, it could be an issue.
