Apple clarifies watchOS 27 compatibility, dropping support for several Apple Watch models

At its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, Apple unveiled watchOS 27. This will be rolling out in the fall. Perhaps surprisingly, watchOS 27 will drop support for a lot of older Apple Watches, including the original Apple Watch Ultra, released in 2022. That device was the first Apple Watch to cost a whopping $799, so many owners may still be using it. But come September, they will only receive essential security updates, as the watch is not getting watchOS 27. Asked why, Apple Watch and Health Product Marketing Manager Cait Dooley told TechRadar: With every software...

Apple today detailed why five Apple Watch models will miss out on watchOS 27 and the new Siri AI features that come with it. The Apple Watch Series 6, 7, 8, SE 2, and the original Apple Watch Ultra will not receive watchOS 27, and will only get basic security updates going forward. With the update, Apple is effectively dropping three years' worth of device support in a single software update, which is unprecedented for the product line. Speaking to TechRadar, Cait Dooley, Apple Watch and Health product marketing manager, said performance requirements were behind the cutoff: With every software release across every single one of our platforms, we always want to ensure that you have the best experience, so we make power and performance a priority. The great new features in watchOS, including the capabilities of Siri AI and the new tap gesture, work best with the processing power that is in Apple Watch Series 9 and later, Ultra 2 and later, and SE 3. Dooley added that older watches paired with an iPhone running the latest software will keep working and will continue to receive security updates. David Clark, senior director of watchOS software engineering, said one of the goals of ‌watchOS 27‌ was to "expand the intelligence story on Apple Watch and make it a true co-partner to Apple Intelligence." He described the watch as often "the most convenient way to interact with ‌Siri‌," since it's on the wrist all day and useful for quick questions when hands are full: We really wanted to make sure the Siri experience is a singular and consistent experience, whether I decide to ask Siri on my wrist a question, or whether I have my phone in my hand and I decide to interact with Siri there. We really wanted to feel like it's one Siri, that has access to your data and is able to personalize it in a consistent way. Clark used the example of asking ‌Siri‌ on Apple Watch for a recipe's ingredients while grocery shopping with both hands full, then later pulling up the same list on the iPhone in an easier-to-read format. He called that handoff a "superpower." ‌watchOS 27‌ is currently available in beta to developers, with a public beta expected next month ahead of official release in the fall.Related Roundups: watchOS 26, watchOS 27Related Forum: Apple WatchThis article, "Apple Explains Why watchOS 27 Drops Support for So Many Models" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

watchOS 27 is the new version of watchOS that's coming to the Apple Watch this fall. It's a little light on features, but there are some useful new additions, including access to Siri AI. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. ‌watchOS 27‌ will have ‌Siri‌ AI, so you'll be able to use many of the same ‌Siri‌ features that you have on the iPhone on your wrist. Right now, the ‌Siri‌ features aren't in the ‌watchOS 27‌ beta, but the integration will be coming later this year. Apple is planning for a ‌Siri‌ app on the watch so you can access all of your ‌Siri‌ conversations. ‌Siri‌ AI for the watch will rely on a connected iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, so you'll need an iPhone 15 Pro or later to use it on your watch. ‌Siri‌ will be able to access your personal data, search the web for info to answer questions, and take actions in apps. There's a new dynamic app grid that's available when you press the Digital Crown. It will put the ‌Siri‌ app front and center, while also showing ‌Siri‌ Suggested apps that include your most used and recently used apps. The view shows multiple apps in addition to ‌Siri‌ and a shortcut to get to the full app list. Apple also improved Liquid Glass with better contrast and more uniform refraction, which boosts readability. Workout Buddy is now available even without your iPhone nearby, and there are new metrics to keep you motivated, with the watch tracking progressive increases in the distance, pace, and duration of runs. Cycle Tracking now supports menopause/perimenopause recognition and notifications, and treadmill readings will be more accurate. Apple added a new tap gesture, so you can single-tap your index finger and thumb together to select a widget in the Smart Stack. There are new Smart Stack suggested widgets for finding a parked car, accessing ‌Siri‌, getting to pinned messages, accessing transit cards, seeing noise notifications, getting reminders for birthdays, and more. When you're getting a phone call, your watch can show information relevant to the call, like a flight confirmation number if you're on the phone with an airline. Custom passes made with the Wallet app on iPhone work on the Apple Watch, and there's a new unified Find My app for locating devices, items, and people. The ‌Find My‌ app supports Precision Finding for locating an iPhone, AirPods Pro 3, or an AirTag 2. Under-the-hood improvements bring longer battery life, with Apple disabling little-used features like gestures, Start Workout reminders, and Raise to Speak to preserve battery. ‌watchOS 27‌ works on the Apple Watch Series 9 and later, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later, and the Apple Watch SE 3.Related Roundups: Apple Watch 11, watchOS 26, watchOS 27Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)Related Forum: Apple WatchThis article, "Hands-On With watchOS 27: Every New Apple Watch Feature" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

Apple's software updates previewed during WWDC 2026 this week have followed a distinct pattern: introduce a handful of key new features, while maintaining a focus on refining the underlying platform architecture. watchOS 27 is no different in this respect, with the majority of changes being performance improvements under the hood. That said, one of the most obvious user-facing changes is a new dynamic app grid that surfaces and rearranges five apps based on your current context and general usage, with Siri as the centerpiece. Pressing the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch immediately invokes the grid, which appears whether you use the app grid or list view. If the dynamic grid doesn't surface the app you're looking for, a turn of the Digital Crown reveals your preferred view. The change straddles the line between redesigned navigation and the efficiency-minded development that defines the rest of watchOS 27, since the grid aims to get you to the app you want, just faster. It's probably the most obvious change you'll actually see, but there are several others that happen out of sight. Apple says they include: Better battery efficiency Improved Wi-Fi connectivity More efficient water detection More accurate step tracking Faster media playback Faster app extension launchesAs with the rest of Apple's software previews this week, though, you'll need reasonably recent hardware to see any of these enhancements. watchOS 27 requires an iPhone 11 or later or iPhone SE (2nd generation or later) with iOS 27. The new software also requires one of the following Apple Watch models: Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Series 9, 10, 11, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 or 3. In other words, ‌watchOS 27‌ drops support for the Apple Watch Series 6, Series 7, and Series 8, along with the original Ultra and SE 2. Apple will release the new software in the fall.Related Roundups: Apple Watch 11, watchOS 26, watchOS 27Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)Related Forum: Apple WatchThis article, "watchOS 27 Improves Apple Watch Performance in Seven Ways" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

Apple just wrapped up its annual round of WWDC announcements, and, as usual, there wasn’t any new hardware. That is not really the point of WWDC, which stands for Worldwide Developers Conference and—occasional curveball like the Vision Pro aside—tends to focus on Apple’s software platforms and how third-party developers can build apps for them. As it does every year, Apple announced new versions of each of its operating systems, now all unified under the “27” banner; this fall will see the release of macOS 27, iOS 27, visionOS 27, and so on. But the most intriguing hardware-related news was learning exactly which of Apple’s gadgets will actually get the updates.  Watch upgrades The most interesting case is watchOS 27. Apple’s next smartwatch operating system will only run on the Apple Watch SE 3, Series 9, Series 10, Series 11, Ultra 2 and Ultra 3. Anyone running an older model is out of luck, meaning it won’t even run on the original Apple Watch Ultra. That’s a little surprising. The first Apple Watch Ultra came out in 2022, so it will have received only three operating system upgrades over the course of its entire life cycle. And this wasn’t a throwaway product—it was Apple’s first significant expansion of the Watch lineup, coming with an all-new design and a $799 price tag. Mine is still going strong; I wasn’t particularly tempted to upgrade to the Ultra 2 or 3. But now Apple is rendering it obsolete. WatchOS 27 is a fairly significant update, bringing a redesigned app grid and the new version of Siri, and it won’t be coming to the Ultra. The reason is almost certainly the chip. The original Ultra used Apple’s S8 system-in-package, which actually used the exact same CPU as the S7 and S6 before it. In other words, the Ultra launched with a two-year-old chip. That wasn’t much of a problem at the time, and really, it hasn’t been much of a problem today. The Apple Watch has long moved past the pokey, sluggish performance of its earlier models—even on the original Ultra, apps load and operate about as smoothly as you’d want them to. The appeal of the Ultra was and is its durability, battery life, outdoor features, and so on. A big jump But when the Apple Watch Ultra 2 arrived in 2023 alongside the Series 9, the two new watches did bring a meaningful silicon jump. Their S9 chip included a faster GPU, a new Neural Engine, and support for features like on-device Siri processing and a system-level gesture invoked by double-tapping your thumb and finger together. Given that the Apple Watch Series 9 is also receiving watchOS 27, it would seem that Apple is using that chip transition to mark a line in the sand and move forward with a new generation of hardware and software. There’s something to be said for that. Apple Watch app development was infamously held back by Apple continuing to sell the Series 3 for five years, meaning apps had to be designed for the slower processor and the smaller screen until 2022.  But this is a different situation. The Series 3 was kept on as a budget model, whereas anyone buying the original Ultra could have reasonably expected it to be treated as the top of the line. Instead, it’s getting its software support cut off at the same time as the Series 6 from 2020.  That’s what’s likely to sting for original Ultra owners. The Apple Watch Ultra itself is not obsolete. It still has better battery life than the regular models while offering a large, bright screen and the same rugged design as the updated Ultra models. It should still perform as well as it ever did for the tasks it was originally designed for. A surprising move This is an unusual swerve from Apple, and it speaks to the company’s complacency in updating Apple Watch hardware over the years. Apple claimed that it was updating the Watch every year with the “S6”, “S7,” and “S8” chips, but in reality they all had identical performance. Apple then decided to launch a new premium product line based on the latest rebranding of that same chip, before updating it a year later with hardware that was actually future-proofed. I think the Apple Watch Ultra is a great product and I’ve enjoyed wearing it over the past few years. But cutting off software support this quickly is uncharacteristic of the company. In the same WWDC presentation, Apple touted how iOS 27 would be coming to the iPhone 11—a device released all the way back in 2019, and priced at $100 less than the original Apple Watch Ultra. It’s often the right call to cut off software support for outdated hardware. But in this case, it’s hard to come to the conclusion that Apple made the right trade-offs. The company launched a high-end product with outdated hardware, and the consequence is that its software will cease to be updated well before many of its owners likely expected.

Apple confirmed at WWDC 2026 tyhat watchOS 27 will not support the Apple Watch Series 8, first-generation Apple Watch Ultra, or the Apple Watch SE 2. The update, due this fall, marks the largest single-cycle drop in Apple Watch software support.