In the run up to the launch of Apple’s iPhone 8, nearly all the talk has been about the handset, what it will look like, and how Apple will take things forward with its iPhone in 2017/18.

However, a new rumour suggests that Apple will announced its third-generation Apple Watch – AKA the Apple Watch 3 – alongside the iPhone 8 during its Q4 launch. And, yes, this is the first we’ve heard about this particular launch.

Both The Economic Daily and DigiTimes are reporting that Quanta Computer is expecting to see MASSIVE upshifts in its revenues during the second half of 2017. Quanta, in case you were wondering, was the primary manufacturer of the first two Apple Watch devices.

The reports specifically mention the Apple Watch 3, which is expected to boost the company’s profits exponentially during Q3 and Q4 2017. Nothing about the actual device was mentioned in the reports, however, so we don’t know anything about its specs, features or design.

Still, Apple sold around 12 million Apple Watch units in 2016, which in the smartwatch space might as well be a billion, so a third-generation makes a lot of sense given it is essentially the only significant player in the smartwatch market.

Apple has been investing heavily in health-focussed projects for the past 18 months. Like Amazon, it clearly believes there is huge scope for profits in this area by leveraging technology like the Apple Watch to analyse a person’s biometrics is a more focussed, detailed manner.

At present, the Apple Watch is rather limited. But it is not beyond the scope of imagination to see Apple Watch devices in the future measuring things like blood pressure, glucose levels and resting basal metabolism, to name but a few.

The applications are huge, potentially, and, importantly, features like this would help propel the Apple Watch from a glorified notifications hub to an actual, useful device. This is clearly where Apple envisages taking the platform. How long this will take, however, remains to be seen. It is just a matter of time, though.

Apple has also been drilling out the watchOS updates too, adding in new features and building up the platform.

Personally, I’d like to see a more traditional-looking Apple Watch, one with a circular face that doesn’t look so much like a gadget. Something like the Nokia Steel HR, basically.

Beyond this, key updates will likely be improved biometrics, improved battery life, new designs and, potentially, more models and partnership-sponsored devices like the one Apple did with Nike.