SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is poised to reveal its next big thing in a crucial attempt to prove its technological tastemakers still have the power to mesmerize the masses.
The trend-setting company is expected to rouse the still-slumbering market for wearable computers with a smartwatch or bracelet equipped to monitor health, help manage homes and even buy merchandise.
Apple is a late arrival to this relatively new niche: Several other companies already sell smartwatches that are being greeted with widespread indifference.
If any company can transform the landscape, it’s likely to be Apple Inc. after the company shifted the direction of digital technology with the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Other MP3 music players, smartphones and tablet computers were first to market, but the devices didn’t enthrall consumers until Apple imbued them with a sense of elegance, convenience and wizardry.
“It means more to us to get it right than to be first,” Apple CEO Tim Cook explained to analysts earlier this year.
Apple is likely to provide the first peek at its wearable device at a Tuesday event in the same Silicon Valley auditorium where Apple’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, unveiled the industry-shifting Mac computer 25 years ago.
Rumors have been swirling that U2, one of Jobs’ favorite musical groups, will perform live to promote its new album, as well as Apple’s latest gadgetry, which is likely to include an iPhone with a larger screen.
As usual, Apple hasn’t said what’s on tap, though the company’s top executives have repeatedly promised major breakthroughs without providing any details.
“The location suggests this will be a historic event and the historic aspect will be their movement into a new category,” predicted technology analyst and longtime Apple watcher Tim Bajarin.
After Tuesday’s glimpse, it still may be several months before people get a chance to wear the device. There’s speculation that the smartwatch won’t be available until early next year, although Apple is expected to take orders during the holiday shopping season.
A smartwatch or high-tech bracelet would mark the first time that Apple Inc. has rolled out a new product line since the iPad’s release nearly 4½ years ago.
The innovation void raised questions as to whether Apple’s creativity was fading.
Those concerns have waned in recent months amid high hopes for the products Apple has lined up for the holiday shopping season. The fervor propelled Apple’s stock to new highs last week, a dramatic swing in sentiment from 17 months ago when the shares were trading about 44 percent below current levels. The stock was down less than 1 percent to $98.20 in Monday afternoon’s trading.
Even with all the anticipation surrounding the potential smartwatch, the next generation of the iPhone will still be the star of Tuesday’s show, as well as the main source of Apple’s profits for at least the next year.
The device, likely to be called the iPhone 6, is expected to feature a screen spanning at least 4.7 inches diagonally, up from the 4-inch display on the previous models released during the past two years. Some analysts have speculated Apple may also offer an iPhone model with a 5½-inch screen.
Besides a larger screen, the new iPhone is expected to include a near-field communications chip that would enable the device to transmit payment information wirelessly to receivers at store check-in stands. The mobile wallet could be secured with a fingerprint reader that Apple introduced last year on the iPhone 5S.
