Apple Watch SE Refresh Could Feature An All-Plastic Chassis, But The Team Behind Its Design Is Not Pleased About Its Appearance Due To The Use Of Low-Cost Materials

Mar 24, 2025

The use of plastic has rarely been explored by Apple as it offers the drawbacks of not just diminishing the aesthetics of a product but is less durable than aluminum, stainless steel, or titanium alloy. Perhaps the only time that plastic becomes a source of a build material is when a company is looking to reduce manufacturing costs. According to the latest report, the California-based giant could be eyeing that for its next Apple Watch SE. However, the team behind its design is apparently upset about the direction that is being taken to develop its chassis, but it appears that they have little choice in the matter.

To avoid being undercut by the competition, a more affordable version of the Apple Watch SE is made, with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writing in his ‘Power On’ newsletter that a transition to plastic might be the only option at this time. The detailed insights were spotted by AppleInsider, which mentions that the talented design team has run into problems related to the cost and appearance of the Apple Watch SE.

The proposed plastic version costs around the same as the metallic chassis, with the team said to be unhappy about the smartwatch’s aesthetics. Unfortunately, there might not be any way around this material if the primary objective is to lower the price. The higher-end Apple Watch models may have witnessed a shipment surge before, but those figures have started to drop as the technology giant is failing to improve successive models by keeping the same number of features instead of introducing newer ones while also being unable to upgrade the battery life.

Thankfully, the company has a new target in its crosshairs which it has yet to capitalize, which is the low-end market. The Apple Watch SE can gain immense traction, but only if its price is controlled. Since the actual footprint of the product is small, there are fewer shortcuts for the company’s team to take to reduce the components cost, which is why it has likely exhausted all of its options except for shifting to a plastic chassis. We will wait and see if Apple launches the updated Apple Watch SE later this year, so stay tuned.