Apple’s upcoming Apple Watch Series 10 will boast a larger display and a faster processor, says Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. However, the expected new health features for the new wearable are now in danger of not making the boat.
Gurman’s comments came in the latest edition of his “Power On” newsletter. Gurman said the Apple Watch Series 10 is “unlikely to look much different” from its predecessor, except it will be thinner. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch Ultra’s design will remain the same for this model year.
The new Apple Watch “Series” models will continue to be available in two casing sizes codenamed “N217” and “N218,” and will both feature larger displays. One of the models is said to have a screen roughly the same size as that of the Apple Watch Ultra.
Gurman says the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 will boast a new, faster processor to succeed last year’s S9 chip. Gurman notes that while the new processor could “lay the groundwork for some AI enhancements down the road,” it will not offer Apple Intelligence features and he says there are currently said to be no plans to bring “the full initiative” to the Apple Watch.
The delayed health features for the Apple Watch mentioned by Gurman include hypertension and sleep apnea detection features, which had been slated for a 2024 debut. However, Gurman says the “effort hasn’t gone smoothly” and “Apple has run into some serious snags.” The hypertension detection feature has not proven to be reliable during testing, which could cause Apple to delay the feature until next year.
The sleep apnea feature is also running into snags, as it relies on blood oxygen saturation, which Apple Watches in the United States cannot currently measure due to an ongoing legal dispute with Masimo. Gurman believes the legal dispute with Masimo could be settled by September, or Apple could find a way around the injunction, by arguing that its oxygen detector can be used for purposes that aren’t directly related to blood oxygen levels. It also could announce the feature but not release it until a later date — or just delay it until a later date.
Gurman also says Apple is looking for new manufacturing methods for Apple Watch components and is still exploring 3D-printed watch casings for the Apple Watch models, which could lead to improved manufacturing times and use less materials.
There is still confusion on whether the upcoming Apple Watch models will be promoted as special anniversary models or whether it will be next year’s Apple Watch lineup that will be designated as anniversary models, as the original Apple Watch was announced in 2014 but was not released until 2015.