As the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch approaches, Apple is preparing a significant update to the smartwatch that will add larger screens and thinner bodies, Bloomberg reports. However, the general appearance of the updated Apple Watch Series 10 will remain similar to the previous models.
Both versions of the Series 10 watches, codenamed N217 and N218, will have larger screens that are comparable to the Apple Watch Ultra displays. The Ultra watch itself will not undergo significant changes, as its current design was introduced in 2022.
Both the Series 10 and the new Ultra 3 will have a new processor under the hood, which will potentially be able to process AI-related tasks faster. However, the Apple Intelligence suite of AI features will initially be available only on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with plans to expand it to Vision Pro later. Currently, there are no plans to implement the full set of AI features in Apple Watch.
It remains uncertain whether Apple will release the anniversary model this year or wait until 2025. The Apple Watch was announced in 2014, but released in 2015, which gave Apple flexibility in choosing the timing of the anniversary.
There are also questions about adding long-awaited health tools to the Apple Watch. Apple is developing technology to detect high blood pressure and sleep apnea, which was originally planned to be released this year. However, progress has been slow. The blood pressure monitoring feature has encountered reliability issues during testing, possibly delaying its release. Even after launch, this feature will not provide specific readings, but will only track baseline levels and alert users to relative increases.
The sleep apnea detection feature faces even greater challenges related to blood oxygen saturation levels. The Apple Watch is currently unable to measure this metric in the United States due to an ongoing legal dispute with Masimo. Apple needs to resolve this issue or find a workaround before launching sleep apnea detection.
Apple’s long-term goals also include integrating glucose monitoring into the watch, a feature that has been in development for about a decade, and significant progress has already been made in this area.
Apple is also exploring changes in manufacturing, including 3D printing the case for some Apple Watch models to speed up production and reduce material use. In addition, Apple is working on a new version of its cheaper Apple Watch SE model, which was last updated in 2022. The company has tested the use of hard plastic instead of aluminum for the SE, which could potentially reduce costs to better compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Watch FE, which costs $199. Currently, the price of the SE in the US starts at $249.
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