Apple Watch Series 5 Out Of Stock, Hints Imminent Apple Watch 6 Launch

Apple has had a habit of taking things down before launching new things. It often takes the online Apple Store down for a while just before it makes new products available. Now it seems it is practically taking down the availability of the current-gen Apple Watch Series 5, a tactic manufacturers employ when a new model is about to launch. That is naturally adding fuel to the speculation that the Apple Watch 6 is coming sooner rather than later.9to5Mac notes that this sudden dearth of Apple Watch 5 stocks isn't really global but a vast majority of Apple's websites have marked the smartwatch as unavailable. Europe seems to still be business as usual but Brazil's shipping time has lengthened. Consumers in the US and China, however, will have to find one from (hopefully authorized) retailers.

That suggests the Apple Watch 6's announcement is just around the corner but that has been the presumption anyway. The exact date of that announcement is what's being debated at the moment, with Jon Prosser claiming the press release will come Tuesday morning while Mark Gurman of Bloomberg believes it will just be an announcement of an announcement. The actual iPhone 12 and Apple Watch event might be scheduled for later this month, instead.

To some extent, some might find it hard to get excited over the Apple Watch Series 6, with rumors pointing to just a few upgrades. That said, the blood oxygen level detection, while not as noteworthy has ECG or blood pressure monitoring, is also more available globally without the need for lengthy regulatory approval.

On the other hand, there is also a more recent rumor about an "Apple Watch SE" that will bring the price down to the masses. That's still hot off the rumor mill with very little to go on but it could definitely make Apple Watch hopefuls keep on their toes in the coming days or even just hours.