Apple is probably more focused on having to halt sales of the Apple Watch 9 at the moment, but there's another Apple Watch launch to think about next year – and the 2024 device is rumored to be bringing a significant change along with it.
According to tipster Kosutami (via MacRumors), the Apple Watch 10 – which may be branded the Apple Watch X – is going to come with "completely redesigned" band connectors. In other words, your existing straps aren't going to fit.
What makes us more likely to believe this leak is that Bloomberg's Mark Gurman made the same prediction back in August. It seems the 2024 Apple Watch is going to be quite the reboot in terms of the shape, size, and strap connections.
The same source goes on to say that the reason for the change is that the existing connectors take up a lot of space. If Apple is able to shrink them down, that leaves room for more components – and perhaps for a bigger battery, too.
Connectors of next generation of Watch has completely redesigned…Literally if you have old bands now, just sell it🤷♀️It’s 100% accurateDecember 20, 2023
X marks the year
Next year marks the tenth generation of the Apple Watch, with the very first model announced in 2014 (though it didn't go on sale until 2015). Since then it's gained numerous additional features, most of them centered around health and fitness tracking.
Remember that Apple celebrated a decade of the iPhone with the iPhone X, and we might well see the same kind of rebranding with the next edition of the Apple Watch. For the time being, though, any potential change in the naming scheme remains unconfirmed.
Besides the redesign, we have heard that there might be internal upgrades for the Apple Watch X as well: hypertension and sleep apnea detection are apparently on the roadmap for the next generation of the wearable.
Dropping backwards compatibility for the bands will no doubt prove an unpopular move by Apple – and it isn't the most environmentally friendly option either – but at the same time, nine years of support for the same design is quite an impressive feat.
