To celebrate its 10th birthday, the Apple Watch Series X is expected to arrive with some notable changes. Although the California-based giant had some grand plans for the upcoming release, but could not go through with them because of severe technological limitations. Regardless, even though we are not getting a design overhaul, we are still getting two models, both of which will reportedly be bigger than the Apple Watch Series 9 and nearly match the Apple Watch Ultra display size.
New SoC is also expected to be used in the Apple Watch Series X, which could be the start of generative AI work, but the company is not there yet
We previously reported that the Apple Watch Series X would feature display sizes measuring 45mm and 49mm, along with a chassis that is up to 15 percent thinner. Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has mentioned in the latest edition of his ‘Power On’ newsletter that the two versions of the Apple Watch Series X are codenamed N217 and N218. Unfortunately, he does not make any mention of how thin these smartwatches will be but states that we should not expect any massive redesign, making it a disappointing update, considering it is the wearable range’s 10th birthday.
Fortunately, we are getting a chipset upgrade, with the third-generation Apple Watch Ultra also getting treated to new hardware, though its specification details are currently unknown. Sadly, if you thought the newer models would somehow support Apple Intelligence, the report shuts down any hope of generative AI capability coming to these smartwatches. However, a chip upgrade may hint that various features could arrive on these devices, albeit with limited functionality, but there is no work being done on this front. For one thing, the Apple Watch Series X will lack the RAM count necessary to run cloud-based and on-device generative AI features.
Additionally, the Apple Watch Series X may also lack a capable enough Neural Engine to execute generative AI-related tasks effectively. Another area that we were sorely disappointed about was the fact that the new series will not offer any advanced health-focused features. Apple has been trying its level best to bring blood pressure and sleep apnea monitoring to its wearables but with little luck. For one thing, blood pressure monitoring is unreliable during the testing phases, making it unviable for daily use. Apple has made longer strides in blood glucose monitoring, with the feature said to be in development for around a decade, but there is no update on whether it will arrive later this year.
Overall, we are getting a decent launch regarding the Apple Watch Series X, but there is nothing groundbreaking about the two upcoming models. Hopefully, the company can address those technological limitations with a future release and provide more reasons why consumers should pick these up.
