Skip Apple Watch 9! Next year’s Apple Watch X is bringing BIG changes

We already know Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 are getting announced at the company’s September event. However, based on what’s coming in 2024, you may want to skip this minor upgrade.

According to Mark Gurman, the Apple Watch X is set to bring a huge redesign that changes everything about the wearable, and the secret sauce is magnets.

Magnets!

At the moment, Apple has stuck rigidly to a mechanical system for attaching watch straps, and it’s been great for maintaining the reusability of old straps. But they have been awkward for the company to workaround, as they are taking up a lot of space.

That’s where the magnets will come in. According to these leaks, watch straps will attach magnetically, which enables Apple to both make the Watch X smaller, and stuff it with more battery/improving the internal components.

As for what these components could be, Gurman points us towards a new blood pressure sensor, and a new microLED display to up the brightness and color.

Outlook

So, while there is some hype around the Series 9 and its upgraded processor (the first time it’s been updated since the Series 6), this looks set to be a very minor upgrade in the face of next year’s model.

The 10-year anniversary of the Apple Watch looks set to be similar to the iPhone’s, in which we see some big changes that dictate the next ten years. While aesthetics haven’t been discussed, I can only hope for a move away from the more bubbly design, which would include a flat display.