If it ain't broke, don't fix it: The Apple Watch X could remain boring after all

Apple recently launched the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. For those following the lineup, these new watches are incremental upgrades over their predecessor. In the case of the Series 9, it’s almost the same as the Series 8, which was nearly the same as the Series 7. When rumors emerged of a grand redesign and refresh for the tenth anniversary Apple Watch X, everyone got their hopes up. But it seems that Apple may not have such exciting plans after all.

According to noted analyst and Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, the “2024 Apple Watch will unlikely have (sic) significant innovative experiences.” This Watch will not adopt microLED for its display either and will also skip out on a blood glucose monitoring feature.

The statement is admittedly vague as it does not directly point to the Apple Watch Series 10 or Apple Watch X (depending on what Apple calls the wearable). Depending on how you interpret it, one could argue that there would be a base Apple Watch that remains boringly standard, while Apple reserves most of the exciting changes for a newer model that would sit below the Apple Watch Ultra.

Kuo asserts that the microLED display and blood glucose monitoring may or may not be present on the Apple Watch Series 11 in 2025, depending on how far the tech develops.

Kuo’s latest report goes against a report by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman that built up expectations for an Apple Watch X release in 2024. Apple was said to have been working on a redesigned magnetic strap mechanism for this purported tenth-anniversary release. Further out, the company was also said to be working on a microLED display and blood pressure monitoring, though these were not directly linked to the Apple Watch X’s release.

It’s important to remember that both Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman have been wrong about the Apple Watch in the past. Both had been confident about a flat-display Apple Watch Series 7, but Apple never released such a product.

More recently, Kuo has been incorrect about linking the iPhone 15 Pro’s overheating issues to its titanium build materials. However, the problem turned out to be an iOS 17 bug, which was fixed with an update without throttling the phone.

It remains to be seen how the Apple Watch Series 10/Apple Watch X shapes up in the coming months. We hope to learn more soon.