206: Apple Watch’s Biggest Redesign Yet Is Coming

We are back in the sweltering heat—thirty-six degrees Celsius outside, thirty-two indoors, no AC, absolutely grim. Please do leave your weather reports in the comments, because apparently that is who we are now. And speaking of updates, the Apple Watch normally never gets one worth talking about—except there may finally be something brewing beyond this year’s Series 12 and Ultra 4.

For the watches arriving in a few weeks, though, expectations have fallen through the floor. We began with whispers of Touch ID, health sensors, redesigns, sensors in the band; now we are basically hoping for a new chip, some colors, a band, a face, and maybe a tiny health feature nobody can properly see. Apple has delivered effectively the same performance for three generations, so a chip bump is not exciting—it is the absolute minimum. A ceramic case would be lovely, mind you. Those old white ceramic models were genuinely distinctive, luxurious, futuristic things. But if ceramic is our headline excitement, that is a bit of a sorry state of affairs.

The Apple Watch is still fantastic at the things it does: sleep tracking, notifications, directions when your hands are full, seeing what is happening without hauling out your phone. It is mature. But Apple keeps presenting it annually as though everything has changed, when it just has not. I have not really felt excited by one since Series 7. The health side has stalled, battery life has barely moved, and that claimed improvement last year felt especially cheeky once you looked at the altered testing. Give us a real battery gain, a stronger low-power mode, and fitness data with some actual depth. If I log tennis, do not simply record heart rate and calories under a tennis label. Tell me something meaningful about the activity.

I think Apple lost some of the original vision along the way. It first wanted this to be social and fashionable; people mostly wanted to close rings, count steps, and receive alerts. Fair enough. But the bands, faces, packaging, software, and even the store experience used to feel more considered. Now the watch can feel like an iPhone accessory that has had whatever interface Apple was working on shoved onto a tiny outdoor screen. I do not need every model to be a luxury object, but the range has been squashed into one general-purpose fitness tracker when it ought to offer more distinct choices.

That is why the reports of a broader rethink are encouraging: a premium model above Hermès, something cheaper than the SE, perhaps a round watch, a ring, or a screenless fitness band. Honestly, I would choose the Fitbit-style tracker first. Make it affordable, integrate it properly with Health and Fitness, and let people track sleep, steps, and calories while wearing a mechanical watch or using a Garmin for golf, cycling, or serious training. Garmin manages sport-specific tools without making you hunt for a third-party app, and Apple absolutely has the capability to do better. The Apple Watch remains the smartwatch to beat, but competitors, rings, and screen-free trackers are changing what people want. So tell us: if Apple went radical next year, would you pick a health band, a smart ring, or a totally new Apple Watch? And how much would you actually pay? We will catch you next week.