Apple Watch Series 10 will have a larger screen and other “notable” upgrades

After several years of minor updates, the Apple Watch is set to receive one of its most significant updates this fall, according to a new report.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman predicts that the Apple Watch Series 10 (or X, depending on how Apple chooses to brand it), set to launch in fall 2024, will see a number of “notable changes” as the company celebrates the device’s anniversary. These include larger screens, thinner cases and a new processor chip designed to work better with AI when Apple is ready to bring Apple Intelligence to the wrist.

“Both versions of the Series 10 – codenamed N217 and N218 – will get larger screens,” Gurman writes. “The change means Series 10 buyers can choose a screen that’s roughly the same size as the Apple Watch Ultra.”

But unlike the Apple Watch Ultra, the Series 10 won’t get bulkier to accommodate the larger screens. In fact, it will be slimmer than the previous generation (though it will presumably still take up more wrist space). The design, Gurman says, “probably won’t look much different in other ways,” so we can expect the same curved screen corners, bezel width, button layout, etc., but the larger screen and thinner body alone represent a major update.

Not that the screen bump and slimmer body shape aren’t the only changes; there will also be a new processor. The Series 10 and its companion Ultra 3 will both come with a chip “that could lay the groundwork for some AI improvements in the future,” Gurman writes. Currently, the Apple Watch is the only major Apple product excluded from the Apple Intelligence project (and isn’t that a shame?), but when the time comes, this processor will give the device the hardware capabilities to handle AI tasks.

Apple introduced a quad-core Neural Engine for the Apple Watch with the S9 chip in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2, enabling the watch to “process machine learning tasks up to twice as fast compared to the Apple Watch Series 8.”

Hopeful health upgrades, meanwhile, are likely to be pushed to a later model. Gurman says efforts to develop monitors to detect high blood pressure and sleep apnea have not gone smoothly, as Apple has encountered “some serious obstacles.” But those upgrades are still in the works, and Apple is determined to

It’s worth noting that these aren’t entirely new theories. Since the newsletter is weekly, Gurman often summarizes and expands on existing rumors rather than breaking new ground. The ultra-large screen and slim chassis were revealed in a leak last month, for example. The idea of ​​the Series 10 getting an AI-capable processor is, I think, new, but the author himself admits that this isn’t certain: note the word “could.”

But there’s not long to wait. For all the latest news and rumors about the fall launches, check out our regularly updated Apple Watch 2024 Superguide.