At present’s “It’s Glowtime!” Apple occasion noticed a sequence of headline-grabbing bulletins, from the iPhone 16 Professional to the AirPods 4. And the Apple Watch wasn’t ignored of the enjoyable, with a totally redesigned Sequence 10 mannequin providing each the thinnest physique and the largest show the road has ever had, together with sooner charging and a brand new health-monitoring function.

The Sequence 10 replaces the Sequence 9 within the lineup, however what in regards to the different fashions? Most pundits anticipated new variations of the Apple Watch Extremely and SE too, however these didn’t seem: the 2nd-gen variations of every stay on sale. The Extremely 2 will get a brand new coloration end (a slightly lovely satin black) however the Apple Watch SE, so far as we are able to inform, didn’t change in any respect. It wasn’t even talked about within the presentation.

Which makes it slightly unusual, if you go to the Apple web site, to see that the Apple Watch SE 2 is that can be purchased… on preorder. It isn’t a brand new mannequin, there isn’t a brand new coloration or chip, and it hasn’t had a worth lower, so what offers? The inventory is presumably on the market already, having launched in fall 2023, so why do we have to wait till the twentieth? What’s the distinction between shopping for it now and shopping for it every week in the past?

We’ve emailed Apple PR to ask for clues, however there are a number of potentialities. Maybe the vary of equipment has modified in some small manner that we haven’t observed but: new bands, maybe these “Contemporary band colours” talked about on the positioning, that should be shipped out to prospects. (The Extremely 2 obtained a brand new band, the Milanese loop in black titanium, and this was introduced in the course of the presentation. However a much less thrilling SE band won’t have merited stage time.)

Alternatively, Apple could have tapered off manufacturing of the SE in July and August, on the understanding that prospects would have been anticipating a brand new mannequin and subsequently wouldn’t wish to purchase the prevailing one; which implies it now has to ramp that manufacturing again up once more and get items out to distributors. Perhaps the corporate even deliberate to replace the SE this fall, and adjusted its thoughts at a late stage. Or likes the thought of individuals considering the SE on the positioning proper now’s newer than it truly is, though that might be barely naughty. (And in equity, it’s fairly clear that it isn’t new. The Sequence 10 has a crimson NEW badge, whereas Extremely 2 has NEW COLOR. The SE has no badge in any respect.)

We’ll replace this text if we discover the reply, or if Apple replies. However for now, it should stay a small however intriguing thriller.