Overview
- Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, in his Power On newsletter Sunday, reported that Apple’s industrial design teams are actively exploring major changes to the Watch’s form factor, including circular displays and devices with no screen.
- Reporters say those ideas are exploratory and not finalized so any radically new Apple Watch models remain years from shipping rather than imminent consumer products.
- Apple’s immediate 2026 releases — the Series 12 and Ultra 4 — are described as iterative updates in testing that will focus on a new S-series chip, fitness tracking improvements, and new color and option choices.
- As part of the rethink Apple is weighing a broader tiering strategy that could add more premium models above Ultra and cheaper options below the current SE, a move meant to expand appeal across price points.
- The push follows stronger competition from smart rings and screenless fitness bands and comes with plans to make the Health app more AI‑centric, which could change how Apple measures and surfaces health data for users.