In late 2024, Apple is expected to introduce the Apple Watch Series 10 – or Apple Watch X. This smartwatch will mark ten years of Cupertino in this market. While the Apple Watch Series 9 was a mild update with some interesting features, there’s a lot we could see in this upcoming model. Here’s everything we know about this product, including specs, release date, price, watchOS 11, and more.
What will Apple call the next Apple Watch? Series 10 or X?
Before Apple released the Apple Watch Series 9, there were a few rumors about a possible Apple Watch X. Although it didn’t make sense at the time since 2023 would mark nine years of the first Apple Watch being released, Cupertino might likely release an “X” version of its upcoming smartwatch.
Most likely, the rumor started thanks to the iPhone X, which marked the tenth anniversary of the iPhone. With this release, Apple reshaped what an iPhone looked like and took it to higher levels. That said, the “X” confused several people, who called this model by its letter and not the Roman number 10.
While I like the “Apple Watch X” brand, Apple might prefer people calling its device by the proper name, so “Apple Watch Series 10” seems more likely at the moment.
Design – goodbye to retrocompatible bands?
For the tenth anniversary of the Apple Watch, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reports that Apple plans a major overhaul for this smartwatch. The company is working on a thinner case for the Apple Watch X/Series 10, but Cupertino could also change the mechanism for connecting bands.
People familiar with the matter told Gurman that the way Apple engineered the bands takes a lot of space, and it could be remade to add a bigger battery or other internal components. That said, Cupertino is considering a magnetic band attachment system, which would end retro compatibility with older bands but could bring other improvements.
Another hint at this upcoming design change is Apple giving a rare 40% discount to its employees for Link Bracelet and Milanese Loop bands. This might hint at Cupertino selling everything it can so it can discontinue these products. If you remember, Apple did the same with the HomePod before discontinuing it.
Despite that, it’s likely that Apple will continue offering the Apple Watch Series 10 – or X – in aluminum and stainless steel finishes.
In addition, X user KosutamiSan, who is an Apple collector and also a leaker with a good record track, has posted that “the connectors for the next generation of Apple Watch has completely redesigned… Literally, if you have old bands now, just sell it.”
While Apple has offered its Apple Watch customers band retro compatibility for over ten years, we expected the company to change the connectors for a new experience eventually. Although some users will be disappointed if this change happens, it’s important to remember that all tech products face major changes.
Another rumor also mentions this new Apple Watch could use resin-coated copper, which can improve durability and water resistance. It could allow a thinner logic board that can provide additional internal space for other components and sensors.
Colors
We still don’t have any rumors regarding the possible colors of this Watch. But if Apple follows the trend, these are some of the colors we could see.
Aluminum:
- Starlight
- Midnight
- Silver
- (PRODUCT)RED
- Exclusive color of this generation
Stainless steel:
- Gold
- Silver
- Graphite
Apple Watch Series 10 new processor
After a few years with no speed improvement for the Apple Watch processor, Apple made it faster than the previous iterations with the Apple Watch Series 9. For Series 10, it’s unclear if Cupertino is making this chip speedier, although it will likely introduce a new S10 SoC with improved machine learning capabilities and other sensors’ compatibility.
Sensors: Sleep apnea, hypertension, and more
According to Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett, Apple has an “enticing road map for 2024, including hypertension and sleep apnea detection for the watch.” For sleep apnea detection, the watch would use sleep and breathing patterns to estimate whether someone has the condition and then direct users to see a physician.
For the blood pressure sensor, Apple will do the rollout in phases. In the first iteration, it will just tell a user if their blood pressure is trending upward and offer a journal for the user to note what he was doing when hypertension occurred. At all times, this function will tell users to talk to a doctor or check their blood pressure with a traditional cuff, Bloomberg report. A future version of the system, on the other hand, will have the ability to provide exact numbers, even diagnosing related conditions, but it remains “far off.”
In favor of releasing new health features, Apple reportedly plans to launch these new capabilities as “good-to-know” functions, just like it did with the oximeter sensor. It shows a person their blood oxygen percentage – or the blood pressure trending upward – but not what the data means, as it’s not intended for medical use.
Besides that, expect the following sensors for the Apple Watch Series 10:
- High and low heart rate notifications
- Irregular rhythm notification
- Cardio fitness notifications
- Temperature sensing
- Emergency SOS
- International emergency calling
- Fall Detection
- Crash Detection
- High-g accelerometer
- Second-generation ultrawideband chip
Blood oxygen sensor controversy
With Apple needing to halt Apple Watch Series 9 sales and, eventually, releasing a model with no blood oxygen sensor in the US due to a patent infringement, Apple could face drawbacks or delays when adding new sensors to Apple Watch Series 10.
Since the blood oxygen sensor is crucial for several measurements, the development of new technologies could have been halted. Still, it’s unclear what will be Apple’s workaround. At this moment, the company can’t sell Series 9 and Ultra 2 models with this technology in the US.
What about the blood glucose sensor?
Bloomberg explains that Apple might use short-wave infrared absorption spectroscopy for the blood glucose sensor for a future Apple Watch.
“This technique involves shining lasers through the skin into the interstitial fluid between the blood vessels and the cells they serve. The intensity of the light’s reflection back, researchers have found, can be used to calculate the glucose concentration in the interstitial fluid and, by extension, in the bloodstream — and the only thing that has had to penetrate the body is light,” the publication explains.
However, since a non-invasive system needs to see through a wide range of skin tones and analyze various blood types, Apple still struggles to get all the data it needs. The company plans to use AI to sift the raw data and generate a prediction for when a person may develop diabetes.
That said, what Apple might launch before the full blood glucose sensor is a function that monitors how a person’s blood sugar is trending and warns users of prediabetes.
Battery and connectivity
If rumors are true and Apple offers a new design for the Apple Watch Series 10, it may get a better battery life than 18 hours a day. For years now, the company has promised the same battery life despite adding new features.
watchOS 11 will power Apple Watch Series 10
With watchOS 10, Apple completely revamped the Apple Watch experience by redesigning its apps for larger displays. There were new Smart Stack widgets, a revamped Control Center, and so much more. At the moment, it’s unclear what changes watchOS 11 will bring, as Bloomberg expects them to be fairly minor.
Release date
If Apple follows the trend, the Apple Watch Series 10 might be announced in September, alongside the iPhone 16, with sales starting in the same month.
Price
We still don’t know how much the Apple Watch Series 10 might cost, but Apple may keep the same prices. Here’s how much Cupertino charged for Series 9:
- Aluminum, 41mm, GPS: $399
- Aluminum, 41mm, GPS + Cellular: $499
- Aluminum, 45mm, GPS: $429
- Aluminum, 45m, GPS + Cellular: $529
- Stainless steel, 41mm, GPS + Cellular: $699
- Stainless steel, 45mm, GPS + Cellular: $749
