Apple Watch Series 10 may not get a radical redesign after all

Over the past year, rumors have suggested that Apple is working on a brand new design for the Apple Watch, referred to as the “Apple Watch X.” Since Apple Watch turns 10 in 2024, it was believed that Series 10 would introduce the new design. However, the latest reports about the future of the Apple Watch have thrown cold water on those hoping for more significant changes in this year’s models.

Apple Watch Series 10 may look too familiar

According to a Bloomberg report last year, the Apple Watch X will be the “biggest overhaul yet” of the Apple Watch. Rumors suggest that the new design will make the product thinner and will also introduce a new magnetic band system that could end up breaking compatibility with current watch bands.

The redesign of the Apple Watch has also been corroborated by other sources, although some analysts and even Bloomberg have mentioned the possibility of the new design being pushed back to 2025 due to its complexity.

Last week, alleged schematics of the Apple Watch Series 10 published by 91mobiles revealed that the new design may not be as radical as the first rumors suggested. That’s because the leaked design looks pretty much identical to the current Apple Watch models, except for the larger size.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that the sizes of the Series 10 will increase from 41mm and 44mm to 45mm and 49mm, respectively. This has been corroborated by the leaked schematics… but again, nothing about a radical new design. Just bigger Apple Watches. To add fuel to the fire, here’s what Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said on Sunday:

This year’s third-generation Apple Watch Ultra will have roughly the same look as the original, and the other watch models still resemble the Series 4 launched in 2018.

While Apple Watch Ultra 3 keeping the same design won’t come as a surprise, it seems that the Series 10 models will look similar to the current Series models.

Will Apple push back the Apple Watch X project?

It’s hard to say what happened at this point. Perhaps the rumors about the Apple Watch’s radical new design were wrong from the start, or Apple may have given up on it for now due to problems in its production. Or the company’s designers have simply decided that the Apple Watch is already good enough the way it is, and there’s no reason to change it drastically.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that the rumors have been wrong about a redesigned Apple Watch. In 2021, there were many leaks about a “flat-edged” Apple Watch Series 7. However, Series 7 looks just like previous Apple Watch models, but bigger and with thinner bezels around the display.

While seeing a new design for the Apple Watch would certainly be interesting, I’m happy to know that there’s still a chance that my current watch bands will fit the new Series 10.

Apple Watch X concept by Lukas Gehrer from Wordsmattr.