This LifeHacker article, based on Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman states that the next Apple Watch SE will be made out of plastic (this was initially stated by Gurman a month ago in his newsletter which I somehow missed).

This switch from Aluminium to Plastic is akin to the iPhone 5 to iPhone 5c where Apple ditched Aluminium to “unapologetically” plastic. The rumour is the next generation of Apple’s cheapest wearable will come in multiple colours too. Which if you ask me is great, I didn’t own an iPhone 5c, but those colours were fun and have great nostalgic value. Look at the iPhone 15 series of iPhones with all the muted colours, I hope these plastic watches bring back the colour and the whimsy of the iPhone 5c.

The Apple Watch has been a great product, the first Apple Watch wasn’t really sure what it wanted to be. Later Apple figured out what to do with the Watch and started focusing more on health related features. The past few iPhone events in September have started with a film about how Apple Watch has been instrumental in saving lives, let that be fall detection, or detecting if something is wrong with your heart. I truly believe that the Watch is a device that can save lives… but only if you can afford it, and that starting price today is $249. Apple has to make the Watch more affordable. Apple is not quite known to make their products cheaper, but if Apple truly does believe that the Apple Watch can help save lives, and not just marketing talk, then Apple has to figure out a way to make cheaper Watches – enter the plastic Apple Watch SE.

As per the article, Apple might drop the starting price of the Watch to $199 (as opposed to $249), thanks to lower costs owing to plastic. This will help more people afford them. If you wanted to get into health tracking today, you could get an Apple Watch SE for $249 or get a much cheaper FitBit. The Apple watch can do much more than a FitBit, it lets you make calls, and lets you get annoyed at Siri. And does much more than just tracking your health – it has saved lives! The cheaper price point means Apple can now compete with low-cost health trackers too.

Khamosh Pathak further writes:

Seemingly, it’s designed to make the Apple Watch more kid-friendly. The hard-shell plastic will certainly make it more rugged, and hopefully more lightweight as well. Apple might be hoping that this will make the Apple Watch SE a viable alternative to a phone for kids who are too young to have a proper slab. Parents could set up an Apple Watch SE data plan for their kids, who could then use the watch for phone calls and messages. Meanwhile, parents could be at ease thanks to the watch’s location tracking features.

I know parents that let their kids have an Apple Watch but not an iPhone. And the cellular Apple Watch SE with cellular will cost more than the rumoured $199 (the current SE with cellular costs $299), let’s say $249. And for $249 an Apple Watch that is more durable would be killer for parents who want to keep an eye on their kids.

I hope this rumour on plastic Apple Watches is true, if it ain’t plastic, simply a $199 starting price would be great.