iWatch, iPod touch 6th generation on release date collision course

By Jerry Miller | February 6, 2015

What do the iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, the iWatch, and the iPod touch 6th generation all have in common? They’re each on a release date collision course – most of them in 2015 – as Apple gets rolling on its major product rollouts for the year. Only one of the four has a publicly confirmed launch date – in fact, Apple is only acknowledging the existence of one of them. But all three will see their respective release dates before long. Here’s a look at when you can expect each.

iWatch release date: This is the easy one. CEO Tim Cook has already stated that the product, now officially called the Apple Watch, is on track for a launch in April. But he’s gone out of his way to avoid discussing any other hardware that will arrive in that same timeframe. Either or both of the other products may arrive concurrently, though the iPod touch 6th generation is the more likely of the two.

iPod touch 6th generation: Apple is allowed the launch of this long expected product to wither without explanation, but the ostensible culprit is that components were already being stretched too thin for un-meetable iPhone 6 demand. With that recently resolved, the launch of the iPod 6 is not a matter of if, but just how soon.

iPhone 6S release date: Tradition says this will happen in September, not April. But the iWatch launch is a unique milestone in that it’s technically an iPhone accessory and requires a fairly recent model for compatibility; Apple could drop the iPhone 6S alongside the watch in order to spur phone upgrades and thus expand the customer base for the iWatch as well. However doing so would disrupt the longtime iPhone launch schedule and force plans for the iPhone 7 to shift forward as well.

iPhone 7 release date: If the iPhone 6S arrives in April, the iPhone 7 will then follow in either the fall of 2015 or the spring of 2016. But if Apple keeps with its annual tradition and holds the iPhone 6S til the fall of 2015, then the iPhone 7 launch won’t come before fall 2016. Of all of Apple’s anticipated products, this is the one with the most far-away launch cycle at this point.