Next year’s Apple Watch won’t get any major changes yet, but a completely new design will be coming in the near future.
The Apple Watch gets a completely new design
In terms of appearance, the Apple Watch has not undergone any major changes for several years. The Watch largely looks the same with each new version. The Apple Watch Ultra was of course an exception, but at the same time the three Ultra models are very similar. Apple now appears to be planning to introduce a completely new design for the Apple Watch in the near future.
According to Weibo user Instant Digital However, this will not happen before 2028. A Weibo post states that the 2026 Apple Watch line will not look significantly different. Apple won’t unveil a new design until the year after the release of the 20th anniversary iPhone, expected in late 2027, according to Instant Digital. This means we probably shouldn’t expect a major redesign of the Apple Watch next year.
Changes and new sensors
Reported in August DigiTimes that at least one new model coming to market in 2026 will receive significant appearance changes related to new sensors. This led to speculation that Apple is developing non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. It is now clear that this Apple Watch feature will still have to wait a few years.
Mark Gurman Bloomberg reported in 2023 that Apple is working on an updated design of the Apple Watch, with a thinner casing and magnetic straps. Although the Apple Watch Series 10 did indeed have a thinner casing, there were no magnetic straps. There were also no other design changes in the Series 11 released earlier this year. Leaked Apple code shows that the company is experimenting with biometric authentication in the form of Touch ID for the Apple Watch of 2026. This may involve implementation under the screen, which does not change the appearance of the Watch.
Instant Digital has a mixed, but sometimes reliable, track record. The account has previously revealed accurate details, such as the yellow finish of the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus and the titanium band for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. However, not all of Instant Digital’s predictions have actually come true.
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