The big innovations in the Apple Watch have been looked for in vain in recent years, although one can ask oneself how much room for improvement there is left. In March, Bloomberg reported that 2026 will go down in the history of the smartwatch as another year with minimal changes – nothing will change in terms of design or hardware functions. On the other hand, there are discoveries in the depths of the system, which clearly indicated Touch ID in the Apple Watch. This led to speculation that Apple was working on integrating a fingerprint sensor. However, the well-known leaker Instant Digital agrees with Bloomberg and states that he cannot hope for such an expansion. Touch ID was tested but probably rejected
Apple actually pursued the idea, but then decided against it. With the Apple Watch in particular, the space in the case is particularly limited. A fingerprint sensor would not only cause additional costs, but would also take up valuable space. Apple would rather use these reserves for other components. In addition, the practical use is limited because the watch remains unlocked when worn on the wrist. Instead, Apple has reportedly chosen more powerful batteries as a much more important step.
Instead: Better use the space for the battery
Battery life has always been a criticism of the Apple Watch, even though most users probably won’t have any problems getting through a full day. Additional health functions, brighter displays, mobile communications, sleep tracking and more and more background measurements continually increase the energy requirements of the smartwatch. Despite constant improvements to the battery, Apple was at least able to keep the battery life at the same level.
The jump of several hours in the current model is primarily due to a changed measurement method – Instant Digital’s contribution now raises hopes that future models will actually be able to use the device for longer periods of time. If there are no other energy-hungry sensors, the larger battery should directly benefit the runtime.
