You shouldn’t expect the next Apple Watch to come with FaceTime

A recent rumor claims Apple’s next revision of Watch hardware will include FaceTime video calling, and despite offering no actual evidence to back this up, the story has spread wildly. The idea doesn’t make much sense though, here’s why. FaceTime, Apple’s brand for video chat over IP or cellular networks, was first introduced by Steve Jobs in 2010 for the then-new A4-powered iPhone 4. The S1 chip package in Apple Watch includes a processor that’s based on the A5 architecture of an iPhone 4s, a year newer than the first iPhone to support FaceTime. However, there’s a lot more that’s missing on Apple Watch. That includes, obviously, a camera. Packing a camera into the bezel of Apple Watch would require a monumental feat of engineering, given that the device is already densely packaged. Unlike an iPhone, the entire front face of the Watch is devoted to screen real estate, with only a narrow bezel surrounding it. That bezel also curves from the edge of the active display down to meet the body of the Watch. Without radically changing that design, that would force a front facing camera element to look through a rounded glass or sapphire edge, creating a complex distortion in the image.