Bloomberg's Gurman doubles down on his Apple Watch Series 8 forecast

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman repeated his Apple Watch Series 8 predictions in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter. He says, "I think this year will be the biggest in the history of the Apple Watch since the original model." He might feel that way because he expects three different models of the timepiece to be released this year.

He is looking for the Apple Watch Series 8, the Apple Watch SE, and an Apple Watch that focuses on extreme sports. Gurman doesn't expect the Apple Watch 8 to include any new health sensors this year, so those who were hoping for the timepiece to feature a non-invasive blood glucose reader will have to wait for at least another year. This feature would allow insulin-dependent diabetics to test their glucose levels to help them figure out how much insulin they need to inject before a meal.

Diabetics currently have to draw blood, dab it on an expensive test strip, and insert it in a glucometer to find out their blood sugar level.

This is a painful and expensive test that is usually performed three to four times a day. It is an important test because if a diabetic takes too much insulin, they can pass out and go into a coma. But Gurman says that this sensor will not arrive this year. Apple's goal is to have a sensor compute the wearer's blood sugar without having to draw blood or use expensive test strips that are used once and then discarded

The Bloomberg scribe says that Apple might add a body temperature feature to the Apple Watch 8, and some "major updates to activity tracking" and performance improvements. He also expects Apple to add "faster chips across the board" for the 2022 timepieces. And Gurman believes that this will be the year that Apple finally says hasta luego (see you later) to the Apple Watch Series 3.

Originally released in September 2017, the Series 3 Apple Watch has hung around as a low-price alternative for Apple Watch fans. We know what you're thinking. Why keep the Apple Watch Series 3 around when the Apple Watch SE is a valid low-priced option. Well, the former, starting at $199, is a lower-priced low-price option than the SE which starts at $279.

Gurman adds that he expects Apple will hold WWDC as a virtual conference once again. Even though in some states Apple has dropped its customer mask mandate for the Apple Store, it is still requiring employees working at its stores to wear a mask. At the same time, Apple has yet to order its employees to return to work at its offices.

Gurman also reminded everyone that Apple is supposed to introduce the first 5G iPhone SE on March 8th. While it will still look like the iPhone 8 with its 4.7-inch display and Touch ID home button, the rumor mill calls for it to be powered by a 5nm A15 Bionic chipset, the same silicon that you'll find inside the iPhone 13 series, making it a powerful compact phone. In today's newsletter, Gurman mused about what might happen if Apple dropped the price of the new iPhone SE (2022) to $199.

A $199 iPhone SE might be a nuclear attack on Android and while the device cost Apple approximately $200 to build the original SE, the price of parts might have come down since then. And even if Apple loses a little money on the hardware, it can more than make up the difference by selling services to buyers. 

While $200 might be too low for Apple to consider, (especially since it is the first iPhone SE to support 5G), another report that we told you about on Saturday suggests that Apple could price its new budget phone at $300.