In summary:
- Macworld reports that Apple’s upcoming watchOS 11 appears to lack significant innovation, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
- The main expected feature is a simplified Modular watch face that brings the Apple Watch Ultra experience to standard models with smaller screens.
- This iterative update may disappoint users hoping for major new functionalities when Apple unveils it at WWDC.
In just about a month, Apple will unveil the newest version of its operating systems at WWDC, and we’ll get a look at the new features and functionality Apple has cooked up over the past 12 months. But while iOS and macOS are sure to be packed with new stuff, watchOS 27 might not be all that different.
It’s no secret that Apple’s smartwatch has hit something of an innovation roadblock. Ever since the Apple Watch Ultra arrived in 2022, Apple’s annual updates have been more iterative than innovative, with watchOS only bringing minor upgrades and underwhelming new features. According to a new report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, this year looks to be more of the same.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman reports that one of watchOS 27’s signature features will be a take on the Apple Watch Ultra’s Modular watch face that’s “simplified” for smaller screens. Gurman describes the face:
It has the same large clock as the Ultra face but removes the option for a big complication in the center, the row of three smaller complications above the time, and information placed around the bezel. The result is a large clock that fills the top two-thirds of the display, with a row of three smaller complications beneath it.
Adding new faces to watchOS updates isn’t a new development—last year’s watchOS 26 update brought Flow, Exactograph, and WayPoint—but Gurman makes it sound like this will get a bit more attention. Apple was so proud of the Modular Ultra face that it got its own section in the Apple Watch Ultra 2 press release.
Apple introduced the Modular Ultra watch face in 2023 with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 to take advantage of the watch’s larger display, “using the outermost edge to present real-time data, including seconds, altitude, or depth,” and offering “the most complications of any Apple digital watch face to customize for sports, outdoor adventures, and ocean and water activities.”
Gurman reports that the new face is ”aimed at bringing a version of the Modular Ultra experience to standard Series watches, offering something less dense and more approachable while still giving customers useful information at a glance.” But for many Apple Watch users, it’ll just be a recycled face and another year of waiting for something new worth using.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.