Apple Watch Series 9: Rumors and what we want to see in Apple’s 2023 wearable
The latest Apple Watches, such as the Apple Watch Ultra, are some of the best smartwatches available on the market. Not only do they support an extensive feature set, but they also save people’s lives through advanced health sensors and useful perks. Though, in recent years, these wearables haven’t changed all that much, especially when compared to other Apple products. They have maintained the same overall design, and the internal boosts haven’t necessarily been mind-blowing. As a result, many of us have been anticipating the next big release: Apple Watch Series 9. Here’s everything you need to know about this upcoming smartwatch, in terms of rumors and our expectations.
XDA VIDEO OF THE DAY
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Nội Dung Chính
Rumors overview
Before we dive into the specifics of what we expect and want to see in the Apple Watch Series 9, let’s unwrap the rumors. If you’ve been holding back on upgrading your old Apple Watch in hopes of an exciting Series 9, we’ve got some bad news for you. It appears that the Apple Watch Series 9 will, yet again, be an incremental upgrade.
Fortunately, though, Apple is reportedly working on an overhauled watchOS 10 to provide its users with fresh elements in the wearable department. So if your old Apple Watch supports this upcoming release, it may be getting a new lifeline through the exciting changes it could introduce.
Unsurprisingly, we don’t know yet when Apple will release the Series 9 smartwatch. However, we can observe the company’s previous patterns and assume accordingly. Below is a list previous release dates:
- Series 8: Sept. 7, 2022
- Series 7: Sept.14, 2021
- Series 6: Sept. 15, 2020
- Series 5: Sept.10, 2019
- Series 4: Sept. 12, 2018
As you can see, the company has typically released new Apple Watches the first or second week of September on a Tuesday or Wednesday. So we could potentially see the Apple Watch Series 9 later this year on Sept. 6 or 12.
Price: How much will it cost?
Similar to the release date, we can’t know for sure how much the Apple Watch Series 9 will cost before it’s announced. Nonetheless, we can safely assume it will be around $399 since the Apple Watch Series 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 all launched at that price in the U.S. Considering that the company caters to people on lower budgets through the SE watch variants and extreme athletes through the pricier Ultra model, we can expect the Series 9 to cost the same.
Design: Will Apple change up the design?
Going off of rumors and leaks, we don’t expect the Apple Watch Series 9 to feature a redesigned exterior. It will likely just offer the same 41mm and 45mm builds as past models. Despite that, a chassis overhaul would certainly be a welcome change. While the design right now looks modern and is practical, it has become somewhat mundane. Besides releasing larger variants with thinner bezels, the Apple Watch has been relatively unchanged since its initial reveal. Apple almost completely redesigned its smartphone with the launch of the iPhone X. Will the Apple Watch get the same treatment? We can only cross our fingers.
Charging: Will Apple go with wireless charging?
Since its original launch, the Apple Watch has charged wirelessly through a proprietary puck. This makes MagSafe and Qi wireless chargers ineffective and drives users to need even more cables and charging pads around. While there are no credible rumors yet regarding the Apple Watch Series 9’s charging technology, we do have a request.
Apple, please, retire the puck. You can also keep it and give us more universally adopted alternatives, like Qi or MagSafe charging. I don’t see Apple retiring the puck anytime soon; the recently-released AirPods Pro 2 support wireless charging through MagSafe, Qi, and, for the first time, the Apple Watch puck. We hope the watch receives the AirPods treatment and introduces a wider variety of charging technologies.
Processor: Will we get an upgraded chipset?
With every annual refresh, Apple introduces a new silicon chip designed for the watch. Though, notably, the S8 chipset powering the Series 8 model is pretty much a renamed S7 chip from the Series 7, which — drum roll, please — is the S6 that first launched in the Series 6. The past three Apple Watch models indeed share the same CPU. That’s why Apple’s been comparing them to the Series 5 and earlier models when marketing them.
The S6 chip is based on the A13 Bionic, which launched alongside the iPhone 11 in 2019. While watchOS 9 isn’t a demanding operating system, it’s long overdue for Apple to introduce a faster and/or more power-efficient processor to its watch. While most Series 6 and newer model users likely don’t face any stuttering or lag when using their watches, a faster processor would only future-proof the Series 9.
If Apple plans to introduce more advanced features in watchOS 10 or 11, we could certainly use the extra power and storage. Considering we can download music for offline, phone-less streaming on the go, 32GB is no longer sufficient in 2023.
Other additions we want to see
It’s hard to find Apple Watch shortcomings at this point, and the iterative Series 8 upgrade only proves that even Apple is also struggling with what it can improve. After all, the watch is already tightly tied to other Apple products and includes a ton of fitness and health features, including blood oxygen monitoring, ECG, heart rate monitoring, Fall Detection, Crash Detection, optional cellular support, fitness challenges and friend competitions, and so many others.
While a future Apple Watch is rumored to support blood sugar monitoring, the leaks indicate we’re many years away from a potential release. A welcome addition would be better sleep tracking sensors that work automatically in the background rather than relying on the preset, inaccurate sleep schedule. Another great feature would be mood monitoring, which could tie in nicely with the existing Mindfulness app. Some cheaper and smaller fitness trackers can already read your mood, so there shouldn’t be any technical difficulties stopping Apple from achieving a similar result.
While the Apple Watch Series 9 is still months away from a potential release, the company has likely finalized its plans for it by now. We only hope the company behind the great Macs and excellent iPads has some exciting changes to share this year. I upgraded from an Apple Watch SE 1 to an Apple Watch Series 7 following the Series 8’s release due to how lacking the 2022 model was. Unless the Cupertino firm surprises us with some tempting offering, I may stick to my Series 7 for at least another year.
