The next Apple Watch may not be the ‘significant’ upgrade we were hoping for

After another disappointing update to the Apple Watch with the Series 9 last month, we’ve been looking ahead to 2024, when rumors say Apple will launch the first major overhaul of its popular wristwatch with the Apple Watch Series X. Now a new report claims that won’t be the case.

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the 2024 Apple Watch is “unlikely” to have “significant innovative experiences.” That includes, Kuo reports, no micro LED display or blood-glucose monitoring, two of the main features once rumored to be part of the Apple Watch Series X. (Though by all accounts, Apple is still years away from blood glucose monitoring in Apple Watch.)

Kuo says a micro-LED display is still in the works for a future Apple Watch display, but he “wouldn’t be surprised if it’s postponed to 2026.” The same goes for blood-glucose monitoring, which “won’t happen in 2024 and possibly not in 2025,” according to Kuo. Prior reports about Apple’s efforts in this area say the company is making breakthroughs but has a long way to go before the technology can fit inside an Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch Series X, as it has been dubbed, was first rumored in August by well-known tipster Mark Gurman of Bloomberg. In the report he claimed the watch, which would mark the wearable’s 10-year anniversary, would have an array of upgrades, including a new case in which Apple was exploring a magnetic band attachment mechanism. 

While Kuo doesn’t specifically say those things aren’t coming, his report on a lack of “significant innovative experiences” indicates that a redesign—especially one that’s incompatible with old bands—may not happen. If true, that would make the Apple Watch Series 10 just another minor update in a string of them, leaving the 2024 Apple Watch without much of an identity. As such, Kuo expects shipments to decline next year unless Apple “repositions” the watch alongside the Vision Pro.