Relatively few Apple Watches will receive the new updates that Apple announced at WWDC. Apple Watch Series 9 and later have access to upcoming software enhancements. But the Series 6 to 8, Apple Watch SE 2, and the 2022 Apple Watch Ultra are not compatible with watchOS 27. Neither of these watches’ chips include neural processing cores capable of running Siri and its new contextual awareness features. Starting with the S9 SiP, all watches have at least a quad-core Neural Engine that is reportedly capable of running a few minutes of backend AI tasks.
In his latest newsletter, Bloomberg’s Apple leaker-in-chief Mark Gurman revealed on Sunday that there are some features that Apple didn’t reveal during its WWDC 2026 keynote that we can expect to see in the fall. Older watches will not get the so-called “modular” watch face that Gurman claimed would consist of one large watch with three customizable “elements” affixed below the time. All three Apple Watch Ultra models have access to a more complex version of that watch face.
Despite this, the original $800 Apple Watch Ultra won’t get any other benefits. Apple has promised that watchOS 27 will enhance all aspects of the wearable experience. This includes better battery life, faster initial Wi-Fi connection, more accurate sleep tracking, and faster media playback and app extensions. The current dev beta update has also removed walkie talkie The app, which has been around since 2018, though it’s unclear whether Apple will ban it It’s back for official updates.
Apple has a strong track record of supporting products for a long time, even when they were clearly left behind. Even the 2019 iPhone 11 will support the upcoming iOS 27. MacRumors’ Aaron Paris has confirmed that the original 2018 HomePod – running an ancient A8 chip – will run HomePod Software 27. Of Apple’s vast hardware stack, the first Ultra appears to be the only Apple Watch that is being sacrificed on the altar of AI.
You’re right to be a little annoyed that your $400 Apple Watch is suddenly reaching its expiration date; So are Apple Watch Ultra owners who are $800 short Very Sad. “Apple isn’t doing anything that can’t be changed or down-clocked,” one Redditor wrote. [older watches] By running a new OS. We are not simulating particle collisions on the new OS.”
Apple’s first Ultra wearable already lacks key watchOS 26 features, like high blood pressure notifications for high blood pressure (which were only available on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Series 9 or later). It also lacked live translation for upcoming lessons. Now, this is an old model that Apple is more than happy to discard. Of course, it could also tempt users to upgrade to the next $800 smartwatch, like the Apple Watch Ultra 3, or For the rumored Series 12 watch, which It may not offer many actual hardware updates.
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