PALO ALTO, U.S. -- Apple declined to set a specific shipping date for its latest smartwatch at a glossy launch event Tuesday that hinted at production difficulties at the tech giant.
The Apple Watch 7 series will be available "later this fall," the company said, in contrast to the specific launch dates for a raft of other new products ranging from a 5G-connected iPad Mini to the hotly anticipated iPhone 13, powered by Apple's A15 Bionic chip.
The complex design of the latest Apple Watch has caused behind-the-scenes issues, Nikkei Asia previously reported . Manufacturers began small-scale production in late August and encountered challenges meeting quality standards, leading to delays in the ramp-up in production.
The Apple Watch 7, which features a bigger screen thanks to thinner bezels, will be available in five colors at a starting price of $399, the company said, calling it the most durable smartwatch it has developed.
Apple also unveiled four versions of the iPhone 13, all supporting 5G, with screens of 5.4, 6.1 or 6.7 inches. They will be ready for preorders from customers in China, India, Japan, the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, the U.K. and more than 30 others on Sept. 17 to begin shipping on Sept 24. Around a dozen other markets will need to wait until early October to preorder.
"With roughly 20% of upgrades anticipated out of China, we are continuing to see robust demand in this key region which bodes well heading into the iPhone 13 upgrade cycle," wrote Dan Ives, managing director at Los Angeles-based Wedbush Securities, in a note to clients.
With a six-core central processing unit, the new phones' A15 Bionic chip enables Apple to boast faster 5G, longer battery life, better camera function and a brighter display. "Frankly, the competition is still playing catch-up to our chips, not just from last year, but even from two years ago, and today we're extending our lead," said Kaiann Drance, Apple's vice president of iPhone product marketing.
The iPhone 13 Mini starts at $699, while the 6.1-inch regular iPhone 13 starts at $799. The iPhone 13 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max start at $999 and $1,099, respectively. The base price matches the company's first 5G smartphone, the iPhone 12, which also started at $699 when released last October.
"People will be pleased Apple has resisted the temptation to bump up prices, which it could have easily attributed to rising component costs," wrote Ben Wood, chief analyst at U.K.-based CCS Insight, in an email. "It's even increased the entry-level memory configuration on several products, including the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini and iPad." The phones now start at 128 gigabytes, twice as much as their iPhone 12 predecessors.
The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max will offer a new 1-terabyte option -- the largest storage capacity in an iPhone to date.
The launch event, streamed from Apple's California headquarters, comes at a time of severe strain in the electronics supply chain. COVID-19 disruptions and global chip shortages caused production difficulties for the company, especially in Macs and iPads, Apple said on its most recent earnings call, and it expects the trouble to spread to iPhones in the current quarter. Supply constraints hit revenues by about $3 billion in the April-June quarter.
New versions of the iPad Mini, featuring a faster processor and 5G connectivity, will be ready for preorder immediately and available in-store from Sept. 24 with a starting price of $499, Apple said. A new version of Apple's iPhone operating system, iOS 15, boasts new privacy features that can help shield users' IP addresses.
Apple shares closed nearly 1% lower at $148.12.