The Apple Watch Series 10 continues to be the subject of rumors and leaks in the lead-up to the 10th anniversary of the device, but the latest news may not be the best news. According to Mark Gurman, the Apple Watch Series 10 will come with substantial upgrades, including a larger display and new chip, and it may also get a special anniversary edition, perhaps called the Apple Watch X. So far, so good, right?
Unfortunately, Gurman also says in his Power On newsletter that the Apple Watch Series 10 isn’t likely to get any design changes from the Series 9, meaning yet another year with an identical smartwatch. On top of that, there are also indications that the new health features users were hoping for won’t be making their way to the Series 10.
As Gurman says in his Bloomberg report, the Apple Watch Series 10 is “unlikely to look much different” from the Apple Watch Series 9, though it is expected to be thinner. Similarly, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is not likely to get a new design this year either.
As far as we know, the next Apple Watch should still come in two casing sizes, code-named “N217” and “N218.” Both will feature larger displays. One of these models is expected to have a screen roughly as large as that of the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Both models should also come with a new processor that should be better than the S9 chip and potentially bring some AI enhancements to the device, though a full Apple Intelligence integration doesn’t currently seem to be in the cards.
The more considerable downside of the latest news relates to the apparent lack of new health-tracking features expected to come to the Apple Watch Series 10. Apple’s efforts to develop sleep apnea and hypertension detection features haven’t gone smoothly. There was hope that the features would be ready for 2024, but according to Gurman, “Apple has run into some serious snags.” The hypertension feature did not prove reliable in testing, so it’s been delayed to next year.
With sleep apnea detection, the problem isn’t so much with the feature itself, but the fact that it relies on blood oxygen saturation, which Apple Watches in the U.S. aren’t allowed to measure due to a legal battle with Masimo. If the lawsuit is resolved by September, then the sleep apnea feature may still come to the Series 10. Otherwise, Apple will need to find a legal argument that the blood oxygen sensor can be used for purposes unrelated to blood oxygen saturation detection. Given the circumstances, this feature is also likely to be delayed until 2025.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.