Skip to main content

Your Apple Watch may get a surprisingly big update this year

Promotional logo for WWDC 2023.
This story is part of our complete Apple WWDC coverage
Updated less than 20 hours ago

WatchOS 10 is set to be announced during WWDC 2023, Apple’s big summer showcase, and it looks like the Apple Watch update might be much bigger than expected.

For the past several years, watchOS updates have been relatively small in terms of new features and overhauls. However, a recent rumor suggests that Apple Watch owners should be in for something big when watchOS 10 goes live.

The World Time watch face showing on the Apple Watch SE 2.
Apple Watch Series 8 Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman on Twitter, fans should expect a “fairly extensive upgrade with notable changes to the user interface.” While Gurman keeps it vague in terms of the specifics of what exactly would be included in the update, he’s usually right on the money when it comes to pre-release information, so the news is worth paying attention to. Gurman explains that since Apple Watch hardware will likely have a relatively small update thanks to last year’s big reveal of the Apple Watch Ultra, watch owners should expect major innovations on the software side of things.

Recommended Videos

This is exciting news as it’s been several years since watchOS has had a major overhaul, and Apple Watch owners may be starting to feel things stagnate. With the launch of things like the Pixel Watch last year, there has been plenty of innovation in the smartwatch world that base model Apple Watch owners might be getting a little jealous of. Luckily, all of that could change in June.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Gurman also predicts that Apple Watch fans should expect “a major update to the watch hardware in 2024, complete with a larger, custom-built display,” so it seems like the Apple Watch is on something of a hot streak. With the launch of the Apple Watch Ultra last year, the now-anticipated major overhaul for watchOS 10 this year, and the newly reported “major update to watch hardware” that Gurman expects for 2024, Apple is continuing to push the boundaries for what fans should expect from their wearable hardware.

As mentioned above, there are no specifics on what we should expect from the update; however, with WWDC 2023 just around the corner, we luckily won’t have to be waiting long to find out more.

Peter Hunt Szpytek
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A podcast host and journalist, Peter covers mobile news with Digital Trends and gaming news, reviews, and guides for sites…
The Apple Watch badly needs the iPhone 16e treatment
A person wearing the Apple Watch SE 2.

Apple isn’t very quick to update its lower cost products, but there’s one model which badly needs its attention: the Apple Watch SE. The company’s willingness to let the SE languish for several years is now affecting its bottom line, and when the Apple Watch Series 11 arrives later this year, an Apple Watch SE 3 needs to be there alongside it.
Hitting where it hurts

In 2024 shipments of Apple Watch models declined by 19% compared to 2023, according to Counterpoint Research, and a quote in the report stated, “The slowdown of the existing Apple Watch SE lineup and the lack of new SE models contributed to the decline.” While the entire smartwatch industry slowed over the same period, Apple saw the largest fall in shipments, which points to something being awry with its current product range.

Read more
Pixel Watch 3 gets key health feature Apple Watch doesn’t have
Someone wearing the Google Pixel Watch 3, showing the app drawer.

Last summer, Google announced the Pixel Watch 3, highlighting its “loss-of-pulse” feature. Regulators have now approved this feature, and according to the company, it will be available to users in the U.S. in March.

“Loss-of-pulse” is a groundbreaking feature that can detect when a user’s heart stops beating. If this occurs, the watch will automatically call emergency services for potentially life-saving care if the user does not respond to a prompt. This feature is ideally suited for those suffering from cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose, or poisoning.

Read more
A smaller OnePlus Watch 3 may be coming, but has a big challenge to overcome
A person wearing the OnePlus Watch 3.

The OnePlus Watch 3 is a great Wear OS smartwatch, with its claimed five-day battery that beats competitors like the Galaxy Watch 7 or Watch Ultra by a long margin. It isn't perfect, though, and there are a few aspects where OnePlus could improve, and it's working to address those in another model that should come this year.

A OnePlus representative recently confirmed a new OnePlus Watch -- perhaps, a new variant of the Watch 3 -- was being worked on. It may not launch immediately, but the brand is supposedly fixing two issues some people may currently have with the OnePlus Watch 3. With this iteration, we could see a smaller and lighter OnePlus Watch 3, while a new problem could emerge because of that. Let me discuss this below.
A smaller OnePlus Watch 3 is good
Wellness Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more