Rumor

2026 Apple Watch upgrade will be dull, but a big redesign is in progress

AppleInsider • Sun, 09 Aug 2026

The Apple Watch will see a revamp in the coming years, as Apple is reportedly in the middle of a shake up its wearables formula to meet an ever-changing market. Apple Watch Ultra 3 The Apple Watch has retained the same core design of a square display on a watch band, but it has evolved over time. While it has become thinner, larger, and more rugged in the Apple Watch Ultra , it can potentially do more. In Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg , Mark Gurman writes that the Apple Watch is ready to get overhauled into something new. The company's industrial design team has been rethinking smartwatches in general over the last year, and it's considering new directions to go in. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

What happened?

Story details

The Apple Watch will see a revamp in the coming years, as Apple is reportedly in the middle of a shake up its wearables formula to meet an ever-changing market.

Apple Watch Ultra 3 The Apple Watch has retained the same core design of a square display on a watch band, but it has evolved over time.

While it has become thinner, larger, and more rugged in the Apple Watch Ultra , it can potentially do more.

Why it matters

This page keeps Apple rumors separate from official updates, so readers can follow early reports without confusing them with confirmed announcements.

Original source

https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/08/09/2026-apple-watch-upgrade-will-be-dull-but-a-big-redesign-is-in-progress?utm_source=rss

Related coverage

Apple Upgrade plan to preload your data nixed over privacy optics

Apple reportedly evaluated giving Apple Upgrade buyers with iPhones that came with all their previous iPhone's data preloaded, but that didn't make the final cut. Apple Upgrade could have had more options for the iPhone Apple Upgrade is a lease in the US rather than a loan and so it's different to the iPhone Upgrade Program it replaces, but it could have been more different still. According to Bloomberg , Apple at least considered preloading a user's data. It's been described as a "white-glove component" of the program. That means it was to mark out Apple Upgrade as a premier service, just as you could once have had the 20th Anniversary Mac delivered and set up for you. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple considers round screens and more radical designs for future Apple Watch revamp

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman goes into some detail today about the future for the Apple Watch product line . He suggests Apple is going back to the drawing board as the Watch faces stiffer competition from the likes of the Oura Ring and other screenless smart fitness devices. It seems Apple is preparing to revamp the concept of the Apple Watch from the ground up …

This scrapped Apple Upgrade feature would’ve made setup much more seamless

According to the latest edition of the Power On newsletter , Apple had reportedly been considering a feature for Apple Upgrade that would’ve made setting up your iPhone nearly seamless: where Apple would’ve already copied your data over. This feature never ended up seeing the light of day, though.

Hands-on: This modular controller slides open to transform your iPhone into a mobile game console [Video]

I first saw the Ohsnap MCON controller at CES last year, and I immediately fell in love with the concept. The idea was simple: give people a full-featured mobile controller that attaches to your phone via Magsafe, slides open when ready to use, and collapses into something compact that can go with you anywhere. Over the last two weeks, I have put it through its paces. I have tossed it around, pressed the launch mechanism 100s of times, used it with emulators, Apple Arcade games, and with multiple phones. Here is how it has held up, along with everything you need to know.