The Apple Watch Series 11 will probably arrive this fall alongside the iPhone 17. Here’s what the next generation of Apple’s smartwatch could bring to the table.
The Apple Watch is much like the iPhone and other products in Apple’s ecosystem, in that it is often the subject of rumors and speculation. With Apple’s famous regularity when it comes to releases, the rumor mill expects that the Apple Watch Series 11 will be arriving in the future.
Here’s what analysts and leakers believe is on the way for Apple’s next-gen wearable device.
Apple Watch Series 11 expected fall 2025
One of the easiest things to estimate for the Apple Watch Series 11 is its release date. We have Apple’s extremely regular release schedule to thank for that.
With the exception for the October 2021 release of the Apple Watch Series 7, the Apple Watch has seen an update every year in September since the Series 1 in 2016. Without anyone saying otherwise, it’s very likely that the same will happen again for 2025.
Part of this is because the Apple Watch launch coincides with the annual iPhone update, which for 2025 will be the iPhone 17. They are complimentary devices, so it makes sense for Apple to be unveiling them at around the same time of the year.
That said, Apple has sometimes divided down its massive launch schedule into multiple events across more than just one month. One year, it even managed to have three fall events across three months in a row.
There’s always the chance that Apple could bump the Apple Watch to a later event than the September iPhone launch, but that seems unlikely.
Apple Watch Series 11 will look like the Apple Watch Series 10
Rumors for upcoming hardware often includes claims about changes in the external design. For the Apple Watch Series 11, it’s more the opposite.
In January, a report from Bloomberg said that the Apple Watch Series 11 won’t have a clearly visible redesign. It will look pretty much like the Apple Watch Series 11, at least externally.
The Apple Watch Series 10 redesign is expected to return for Series 11
This rumor does make sense to a point, as Apple does habitually reuse the same design of hardware for multiple generations, instead of coming up with new designs every time.
Since Apple last made external changes to the Series 10, the Series 11 is far more likely to look identical to its predecessor.
Leakers may have alluded to an all-glass Apple Watch being in the works, but that seems extremely unlikely for the near term. Maybe in a few years time, it could be a possibility.
Apple Watch Series 11’s display
While the external hardware of the Apple Watch Series 11 will probably be very familiar, the screen will almost certainly be unchanged too. However, there have been previous reports on a technology change.
Apple currently relies on a flexible OLED screen in the Apple Watch. While the technology has been adequate so far, it could eventually make the change over to a microLED screen, which it has been working on for years.
There have been assertions that the display technology could be used in an Apple Watch as early as 2025, but such claims have repeated themselves over the years. Those claims have also leaned on it arriving in the Apple Watch Ultra first, which makes sense since the premium models tend to include newer technologies before others in the range.
The Apple Watch Series 11 screen may be practically the same too.
At the same time, Apple has had to deal with various setbacks in developing the technology, and even has been rumored to be pushing it back to 2026 as a consequence.
Sticking with the currently-used technology for the moment, one October report claimed that the Apple Watch Series 10 included a change in the backplane technology. The use of a low-temperature polycrystalline oxide thin-film transistor (LTPO TFT) backplane enables a dynamic refresh rate in an OLED screen, and the Apple Watch’s always-on display.
The claim was that Apple shifted from using LTPO2 to LTPO3 in the Series 10. The change offers more power savings, as well as the possibility of higher refresh rates.
Whether Apple would go down the latter route is unclear, but battery savings are always handy. This will probably persist for the Series 11.
Apple Watch Series 11 will have the same health sensors
Much like the general design of the Apple Watch Series 11, the things it will be able to sense should also be fairly similar to the current-gen hardware. At least, on a sensor level, it should be quite similar.
The big one should be the inclusion of high blood pressure detection. There have been rumors of it being included in some way, but seemingly in notifying of extreme circumstances, not general blood pressure monitoring.
The Apple Watch Series 11’s health sensing won’t be a massive change from the current-gen model
The blood oxygen sensing feature that became a courtroom battle may yet make an appearance, as there’s still time for Apple to win a ruling on the matter over Masimo. If so, it would mark the return of a feature that is not available in the United States, but is elsewhere in the world.
There’s also the long-rumored glucose monitoring function to consider. However, while Apple is still working on making a sensor to perform that non-invasively, Apple’s at least trialing software to help manage a user’s blood sugar levels.
Apple Watch Series 11’s chip changes
The easiest chip change to expect is the migration to the S11 SiP. There’s no rumors about any changes in performance so far, nor are there expected to be any major innovations here since we’re talking about a smartwatch.
While not a processor, there could be a change in terms of wireless connectivity. Apple’s C1 modem exists, which certainly has the potential of being added to an Apple Watch.
It’s certainly a power-efficient chip, which will be beneficial to a smartwatch. While it lack mmWave support, such high-speed connectively is unlikely to be needed by a wearable device.
There have also been murmurs that Apple is considering bringing some satellite-based features to the wrist. Though reports have centered on it being used in the Apple Watch Ultra 3, there’s always a chance it could be included in the standard edition.
Apple Watch Series 11 software improvements, and Apple Intelligence
Following various rumors that Apple will be incorporating elements of the visual design of visionOS into iOS and other operating systems, it was inevitable for the claims to filter through to the Apple Watch.
Apple could add iPhone-assisted Siri to the Apple Watch Series 11
In April, reports said that watchOS 12 will bet a similar visual upgrade, including semi-transparent and revamped menus and icons. “Several ideas” were apparently in development, but with no real outline of what they would be.
The Apple Watch is also still an outlier when it comes to Apple Intelligence, as it doesn’t have the capability to perform processing at a high-enough level for it to exist. While it cannot do so as a standalone piece of hardware, it may still get some of the benefits in watchOS 12.
This chiefly could consist of notification summaries, though the revamped Siri functionality could still be a possibility. Albeit one that could rely on Siri’s processing being handled by a paired iPhone.
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