Apple is often accused of charging too much money for its products, but some of the company’s most important releases are free. Like major annual software updates for the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch, which unlock a host of new features at no additional cost.
This year, in fact, the watchOS 10 software update (cost: $0) is expected to be significantly larger than this year’s new hardware. The Apple Watch Series 9 (likely cost: $399+) has been labeled “anything but major”, while the new operating system is expected to bring “more substantial improvements, including an updated interface”.
This article is our deep dive into watchOS 10, sifting through leaks and rumors to bring you the best information available on its release schedule, hardware compatibility, and range of interface changes and new features. WWDC can’t come soon enough!
Update of 04/27: A new rumor claims that watchOS 10 could allow Apple Watches to sync with multiple Apple devices.
watchOS 10 release date: when will watchOS 10 arrive?
watchOS 10 will be announced at WWDC 2023 on June 5, enter a lengthy beta testing process, and finally be available for official public download in the fall.
It’s worth noting that Apple hasn’t announced any of this (other than the WWDC date), but the company’s operating system updates follow a predictable pattern. Every summer, Apple announces major new versions of watchOS, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS. He demonstrates some or all of it at his WWDC rally — stage time varies depending on what Apple thinks will be of most interest to audiences — then begins beta testing. The final versions usually appear in September (watchOS 9 was released on September 9 of last year), around the same time as the new iPhones and Apple Watch of the year.
Here’s the timeline we’re expecting for watchOS 10:
- June 5: watchOS 10 is unveiled during the WWDC keynote presentation.
- June 5: The first developer beta is released.
- July: The first public beta is released.
- June-September: A series of betas are released, gradually getting closer to the final product.
- September: watchOS 10.0 is rolling out to the public.
watchOS 10 compatibility: Which Apple Watches will be able to run watchOS 10?
We expect watchOS 10 to run on the same devices as watchOS 9: the Apple Watch Series 4 and later. But we won’t know until WWDC.
The recent trend is that Apple reduces its list of compatible models every two years. In 2018, watchOS 5 dropped support for the first generation Apple Watch; in 2020, watchOS 7 dropped series 1 and 2; and in 2022, watchOS 9 dropped Series 3. That’s why we think watchOS 10 will refrain from swinging the ax, and Series 4 will live another year, although it may not have access to the full range of new features.
Of course, each version of watchOS also has a list of compatible iPhones: at the moment, each Apple Watch must have an iPhone paired with iOS 17. In 2019, watchOS 6 dropped support for iPhone 5, 6 and 6 More. ; the remaining iPhones lasted another three years, but in 2022 watchOS 9 dropped the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the 7 and 7 Plus, and the 2016 iPhone SE. Following this bloodbath, we suspect the iPhone 8 and later will again be compatible with the new version of watchOS this year.
watchOS 10: how to install the beta version and the full version
Once watchOS 10 is here for real, installing it on your Apple Watch will be easy. Just open the Watch app on the companion iPhone, make sure you’re in the My Watch tab, then navigate to General > Software update and follow the on-screen instructions. You may need to update the iPhone first.
You can also try a beta version of watchOS 10 before the fall. To do this, you will need to join Apple’s beta program and understand that some features of your watch may break down. Apple is streamlining the beta process in watchOS 9.5, so you’ll only need to sign in to your Apple ID to get betas on all your devices, and you can easily turn them off if you no longer want to receive them. In the same Software update tab, you will see a new watchOS 10 Beta which will allow you to switch from watchOS 9 updates to watchOS 10 updates.
watchOS 10: rumors of new features
The new version of watchOS will include a host of small tweaks designed to improve the reliability of existing functions, but the real meat of Apple’s announcement will focus on new things you’ll soon be able to do with your Apple Watch and new ways which you will interact with. with that. Here are the major new features and changes we expect in watchOS 10.
Updated interface
User comfort with a digital interface is as much about familiarity as it is about sound design principles, and any major change in this area is sure to result in setbacks; that’s what Apple experienced with the drastically redesigned and initially unpopular iOS 7 in 2013. But Mark Gurman, the leaker/analyst who predicted big things for the Apple Watch this year, was careful to use word update rather than new to describe the watchOS 10 interface. It will be different, but it doesn’t look like it will be totally different.
More details on what this will look like emerged on April 18, when leaker Analyst 941 on Twitter (Anonymous-AS on Macrumors forums) predicted “a revamped home screen layout/grid” and said said it would be “much easier to use, move, & act more familiar with iOS, including folders. The prediction came with renders showing very large icons lined up in straight rows & columns (as opposed to the honeycomb pattern). space-saving tiled bee currently in use) and a rough visual of how folders work.
It’s fair to say that the current honeycomb grid isn’t easy to use, as the icons are small and haphazardly arranged, while their proximity to each other makes it easy to open the wrong app. List View is a better option for most Apple Watch owners, but having larger, more regularly laid out icons seems like a win, even if the idea of folders on such a small screen is less appealing.
But first keep in mind that this is unconfirmed: Analyst 941 has had some results with accurate predictions recently, but does not have a long track record to warrant high confidence. And second, while the general theory is correct, the details and execution are still up in the air. Rough renders sure look slightly awkward, but Apple’s designers would be able to come up with something more refined. But once we get used to it, it could be a very usable interface.
Health and other new applications
Apple likes to release a brand new app to feature an operating system update, such as Breathe in watchOS 3 and Walkie Talkie in watchOS 5, but we haven’t heard any rumors of anything similar this year. What we’re hearing is that Apple could be bringing the existing Health app to the Apple Watch… although where that theory comes from is unclear. (As of this writing, BGR confidently states that Apple “should bring the Health app to the Apple Watch,” without citing a source; Tom’s Guide, meanwhile, mentions this as something it as happen, and we wonder if the wires have crossed somewhere along the line.) Still, it would make sense for the Apple Watch to have a centralized health dashboard, given its growing centrality in the Apple’s health and fitness efforts.
Pairing Multiple Devices
According Apple is looking to remove one of Apple Watch’s biggest limitations: device syncing. As it stands, Apple Watches need to be paired with an iPhone and only one iPhone at a time. Analyst941, who leaked specific Apple information in the past, the feature will allow Apple Watches to “sync across multiple iOS/iPadOS/Mac devices, and will no longer be tied to a single iPhone.” The leaker isn’t sure if this is a watchOS 10 feature or planned for a future release, but we’re crossing our fingers that it’s included in watchOS 10.
Miscellaneous changes
There are certain features that Apple routinely adds to its smartwatch every year. watchOS 10 will almost certainly see the addition of new faces, for example, and there will be new complications for the faces we already have. Chances are the Workout app will get a new routine or two. Sleep tracking will likely be tweaked a bit more as it still lags behind the equivalent feature on Fitbit.
None of these are big enough to headline a speech, as they are expected. But small, iterative improvements are always a big part of the value offered by Apple’s free annual updates.
Apple
Further reading
With no spring event held earlier this year, WWDC 2023 should be a cracker of an event, with plenty of major announcements expected.
On the software side, watchOS 10 will be accompanied by four other operating system updates, the most significant of which will probably be iOS 17 (which could see the arrival of sideloading on the iPhone for the first time) and macOS 14 for the Mac.
But there should also be new material. Apple would like to build the event around its long-awaited mixed reality headset, the first of a whole new ecosystem of products that could eventually overtake the iPhone in importance – although the word “could” carries a lot of weight for this troubled and project often delayed.
New Macs are also in the works. There could be as many as three new MacBooks, including a new 15-inch MacBook Air, and Apple fans dare to hope that the company will finally bring the Mac Pro into the realms of Apple silicon.
Table of Contents
