Apple Watch Series 6: Everything rumoured for Time Flies event

Apple is expected to announce not one but two new Watch devices at an event this week, including a cheaper model.

Apple is expected to announce updated smart Watch products at this Wednesday’s Time Flies event.

The Watch news is expected to fulfil the more overt allusion in the name for this week’s event, where updates to the iPad Air are also expected to be announced.

Ordinarily Apple would release a new model of its top-selling iPhone alongside the watch as it previously did with the iPhone 11 and Apple Watch Series 5 (the two devices are inextricably linked with the Watch practically reliant on the phone to function fully).

It’s rare to see a new Apple Watch without a new iPhone but we might see two on Wednesday.

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The new iPhones are believed to have been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and it’s expected there will be further about them next month.

As for the Watch, Apple appears to be strengthening the health and wellness features of its wearable, and might also release a stripped down, cheaper version like it’s done with the iPhone SE.

Bloomberg reported earlier this month the company is working on two models of Watch.

One is expected to replace the current Series 5 watch, while another will replace the Series 3, which has stuck around as a cheaper version of the smartwatch since releasing in 2017.

The focus of the cheaper device is believed to be fitness tracking, competing with the Fitbit company Google recently moved to acquire for $US2.1 billion ($A2.88 billion).

Fitness tracking is a key feature of the Apple Watch and other wearables.

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Some leaks have also predicted new colours and case materials.

Apple’s vice-president of technology Kevin Lynch previously said new features would arrive in WatchOS7 at the company’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference in June, pointing to improved sleep tracking, a new hand washing monitor and shareable watch faces.

The Series 6 Watch is also expected to add blood oxygen monitoring, which has previously appeared on smart watches from competing companies like Garmin, Fitbit and Samsung.

Blood oxygen (also known as SpO2) sensors can let you know when the concentration of oxygen in your blood falls below a certain level, which can be a symptom of larger underlying illnesses or disorders such as sleep apnoea.

Apple might also introduce a new biometric locking technology.

Currently the Apple Watch Series 5 uses a six-digit passcode lock when you first put it on your wrist.

You don’t have to put the passcode in again until you’ve taken it off.

With the possible inclusion of Touch ID on the power button of the predicted new iPad Air, Apple could also put a small fingerprint scanner in the crown of the Apple Watch.