Apple Watch Could Get visionOS-Like Redesign, Apple Intelligence Support

[MacRumors]

The an upcoming version of watchOS will bring a visionOS-like redesign to the Apple Watch, much like the design updates coming in iOS 19 and macOS 16, claims Israeli site The Verifier.

watchOS will eventually have "elements" of visionOS, including a look that is bolder, slightly transparent, and with a floating aesthetic. Buttons, menus, icons, and other user interface elements will reportedly be refreshed, with Apple "working on several ideas" for the Home Screen. The Verifier does not know when these design changes will come, as the features are allegedly still being developed.

The site also claims that Apple is working on Apple Intelligence features for the Apple TV and the Apple Watch Ultra. The Apple Watch Ultra will allegedly get a new, exclusive chip that will allow it to run Apple Intelligence, though this is a questionable claim because Apple has been bringing Apple Intelligence features to as many devices as possible, not restricting the functionality to its higher-end products.

Of all the devices announced since WWDC 2024, only the most recent low-cost iPad does not support Apple Intelligence. Everything else, including the mid-budget iPhone 16e, features Apple Intelligence. Allegedly, the Apple Watch Ultra will get Apple Intelligence first, with the feature set to come to other Apple Watch models "a year later."

As of right now, the Apple Watch models only have 1GB RAM, and Apple Intelligence requires 8GB RAM at a minimum, so that is another red flag with The Verifier's claims. The site says that Apple Intelligence features on Apple Watch will include notification summaries, the ability to create Genmoji, and a "new Siri" that understands user behavior and garners information from "sports activity, AI medical monitoring, sleep tracking, heart rate activity, and more."

It is worth noting that The Verifier doesn't have the best track record when it comes to rumors. Last year, the site said iOS 18 would get a visionOS redesign, which didn't happen. Other rumors that have not panned out have included Touch ID for the Apple Watch, a kids mode for the Apple TV, the launch date for a new Apple Pencil, and several incorrect predictions about different versions of iOS dropping support for older devices.

Article Link: Apple Watch Could Get visionOS-Like Redesign, Apple Intelligence Support

 

[Jashar7]

I mean they have to go all in here and redesign everything and get a fresh new look and then focus on bug fixes (hopefully) glad Apple is finally realizing humans are about novelty and brand new things rather than same thing for 30 years

 

[antiprotest]

Why? What's going on? Does VisionOS have the best interface? Why must all the products follow it now? Or is this some Tim Cook BS?

 

[ps3zocker]

But watchOS is already visionOS-like because visionOS is actually watchOS-like with those circular buttons and variable blur views. These rumors are getting weirder and weirder.

 

[Westside guy]

WatchOS has been going downhill for quite some time... I guess they're looking to finish the job.

Why on earth do companies routinely give in to this compulsion to take a useful product, which has a very functional design, and then drive it into the ground?

 

[DogHouseDub]

Change for the sake of change.

 

[WilliApple]

Have they been right for anything or nah?
Also doesnt watchOS already have the visionOS design?

 

[Billy_Bob]

If they add Apple Intelligence [sic] to the AppleWatch's GPS capabilities, I suppose it will devise ever-newer ways for you to get lost.

 

[TechWhisperer]

The Apple Watch is great for health features etc. But Genmoji? Remember the double tap feature? Lmao!

 

[LeMo]

AppleunIntelligence on watchOS?
I will find that off button!

Imagine:
- Apple Watch, 3 hours battery life
- Apple Watch: You speak, it dies.

 

[jz0309]

so the app icons will get even rounder?
And Genmoji generation on the Ultra? that is just laughable ... and. sad. at the same time.

If AW starts getting AI features and continues to trail in health features, I will have to re-think ...

 

[citysnaps]

Looking forward to seeing the redesign. Might even purchase one.

The sky isn't falling.

 

[MrGimper]

TBH watchOS is the only thing I get excited about now.

 

[Smittywerben]

It's already completely useless on 16PM, Imagine it on AW with trash battery life and 1GB RAM.

 

[Wando64]

Just fix Siri, for goodness sake…

 

[DrJR]

Vision OS for everything!!! Madness!

 

[Howard2k]

Apple Intelligence is a tiered system. They could either use a micro model on the watch and offload 90% of stuff to tier 2, or just offload everything to tier 2. There are several ways that they could make this work, once they’ve got the basics of Apple Intelligence sorted.

 

[goonie4life9]

That's right, folks, the era of spatial computing is HERE!!! The Apple Vision Pro is tomorrow's technology, today, for early adopters, who want to see what the future is like. Everybody knows that Apple always pilots bleeding-edge technology in future-looking products like the Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro. Apple can't wait to see what customers are able to do with SPATIAL COMPUTING-BASED OSes. Apple thinks you're gonna love it!!!

 

[usmaak]

I really do like it just the way it is. There’s no reason for big changes that I can see.

 

[pdaholic]

I’m glad my watch and phone will have matching design elements with a device that I will never be able to afford!

 

[CarAnalogy]

Why? What's going on? Does VisionOS have the best interface? Why must all the products follow it now? Or is this some Tim Cook BS?

And this obviously fed line about making it less "jarring" to switch between platforms. This is not a thing. No one in the history of Apple has ever gone from a Mac to an iPhone or vice versa and said "wow that sure was jarring, these devices are so different, oh my poor head!"

What ever happened to making the best interface for the platform and not trying to shoehorn from mobile into the desktop that don't work there, and vice versa?

And now from the LEAST used interface, the most SPECIALIZED interface, and just slapping that on everything?

 

[Poot Windbreaker]

Well, I’d rather wrap an apple watch around my head than a vision pro, so maybe they are on to something.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I really don't even know what this would functionally mean

The Watch OS is going to be more Vision OS like?

The interaction experience is wildly different

 

[CarAnalogy]

I really do like it just the way it is. There’s no reason for big changes that I can see.

Just bring back the Dock. There was no reason to take it away.

 

[arc of the universe]

this Macrumors article is interesting.
one sentence in particular:
quote
with Apple "working on several ideas" for the Home Screen.
endquote
i was prepared for the last word to be Watch Face. But it says home screen.
maybe it means neither: maybe it means grid view or list view.
but a home screen concept in the context of the Watch is intriguing to me, regardless of whatever Macrumors or The Verifier actually means with this expression.

i dont think of the Watch as just a Watch with some computer features.
i have always thought of the Watch as a wearable computer.
i would prefer if the Watch does make a directional shift from watch face w/ complications, to wearable with a home screen (with some usual watch complications able to be displayed).
let me interact with notifications and schedules and reminders in more meaningful ways. what is the function of the crown in this thinking?

the main direction and use case for the watch doesn't change:
its still for notifications, payments, schedule and these type of things; as well as a device housing its monitoring sensor arrays for health and fitness.
but interacting with the device would benefit from getting away from the Watch analogy.