We expected the Apple Watch lineup to undergo a major shakeup this year to mark its tenth anniversary, and now we may learn what that will entail.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, the Apple Watch Series 10 (or Apple Watch X) will receive some major upgrades.
“This fall, Apple is planning some notable changes to its original smartwatch line – the ‘Series’ models – including larger displays,” explains Gurman. “The device will also be thinner, although the design itself probably won’t look much different.”
Gurman says the Series 10 will come in two versions with larger displays. The models are currently codenamed N217 and N218 and offer a screen about the same size as the Apple Watch Ultra.
New chipset on the market?
While Gurman notes that the design of the expected Apple Watch Ultra 3 “won’t see any major changes,” the new models are expected to receive a new chipset to “lay the foundation for some future AI improvements.”
Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that Apple Intelligence will be available on the device, and Gurman recommends that users hoping for the new AI features temper their expectations a bit.
“Currently, this service is only available for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Later, it will also be available for the Vision Pro, but there are no plans to bring the entire initiative to the watch.”
Moreover, the release, which actually coincides with the anniversary of the Apple Watch’s launch in 2014 rather than its 2015 release, seems to come too soon for Apple’s latest health sensors.
Devices to detect hypertension and sleep apnea are planned, but Gurman notes that the company has encountered “some serious problems.” Gurman says reliability is an issue with hypertension, while sleep apnea is related to blood oxygen monitoring, which is currently the subject of an ongoing lawsuit with Masimo Corp.
