The Apple Watch will celebrate its twelfth birthday next fall – twelve years to be precise since its launch in September 2014, as deliveries only began a few months later in spring 2015. Contrary to what many people expected, there was no special model or new design for the tenth anniversary as the “Apple Watch Bloomberg now says in a question-and-answer session with Mark Gurman that no major changes can be expected in the fall of 2026 either. Instead, Apple is once again following the approach of only making minor improvements. No evidence of extensive upgrades
In recent years there have been repeated rumors about far-reaching functional innovations. Biometric authentication through Touch ID in the display or a revision of the bracelets with magnetic holders were the long-running favorites. However, it doesn’t look like that anymore and the reports have stopped. When it comes to the design itself, Apple also has very little leeway, because with the exception of “even thinner” or the very unlikely change in the form factor to square instead of round, there are hardly any starting points.
The biggest announcement was the Apple Watch Ultra
Of course, this doesn’t mean a complete standstill, but the Apple Watch has obviously long since reached where Apple wanted to go with the device. The most important announcement in recent years was the introduction of an additional model, namely the fairly popular Apple Watch Ultra. For the standard version, however, not much is likely to happen in the long term, because suddenly offering three times the battery life with the same functionality is currently simply not within reach. The leaker Instant Digital reported a few months ago that no visible innovations are expected before 2028, and the next design update may not come until 2029.
