Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Macworld reports that Apple plans to release three new Apple Watch models in late 2026: Series 12 with cellular and Wi-Fi variants, plus the Ultra 4.
- No new Apple Watch SE is expected in 2026 following the SE 3’s major refresh in 2025, disappointing budget-conscious consumers.
- Both new models will feature significant speed boosts and enhanced health features but no design changes, with blood sugar monitoring delayed until later this decade.
The biggest announcement of Apple’s upcoming fall event will be Apple’s foldable iPhone Ultra, arriving alongside its iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max siblings. But as always, we can also expect Apple Watch updates, including some changes that are highly significant in their own way.
According to the latest edition of Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, three new Apple Watches are in the pipeline for a fall release–but if that makes you think we’re getting new versions of the standard, Ultra, and SE models, think again. Sadly, Gurman is referring to the Series 12 in both cellular and Wi-Fi-only flavors, along with the Ultra 4. (Ultra models always come with cellular.)
“I haven’t yet heard of a new Apple Watch SE planned for 2026,” Gurman reports, citing anonymous insider sources. “But that shouldn’t be too surprising, given last year’s major refresh with the SE 3 and the usual extended gap between versions [of that model].”
While neither the Series 12 nor the Ultra will get an updated design, according to Gurman’s sources, they will have important upgrades on the inside. On the general processing front, both can expect substantial and long-awaited speed boosts; as Gurman notes, the Apple Watch’s chip power has remained the same since 2023, despite the arrival of new chips along the way.
There will also be new health and fitness features, although Gurman doesn’t offer any specifics.
One health feature that won’t be coming in late 2026 is blood sugar monitoring, which has been rumored for years. As long ago as 2017, we covered an optimistic report that a secret team of biomedical engineers was working on non-invasive, continuous glucose monitoring for diabetes patients, and as Gurman notes, the project was first conceived in the Steve Jobs days.
We’ve waited a long time, and we’ll wait some more. But the feature is reportedly still in the pipeline. It’s just on a longer-term schedule: Gurman says it’ll arrive “sometime later this decade.”
As for the long-rumored design overhaul, that too is on the back burner. Gurman says there is “ongoing work on a bigger rethink” but that he doesn’t expect this to arrive “for another year or two.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s what we keep hearing whenever an Apple Watch redesign gets too close for comfort. The big revamp was once expected to arrive on the Apple Watch X in 2024 or 2025, and more recently was predicted for 2027. I wouldn’t hold your breath.
For all the latest news and rumours concerning this year’s new models, bookmark our regularly updated Apple Watch Series 12 superguide.
