Apple plans to overhaul the standard Apple Watch’s design in 2027, breaking compatibility with the bands owners currently use, a well-known Weibo tipster claimed Tuesday.
Leaker says Apple Watch 13 will bring major redesign
In a series of posts on Weibo, leaker Instant Digital revived years-old chatter about an “Apple Watch X” model, a redesign that earlier rumors pegged to the device’s 10th anniversary in 2024 but that never came to be. The leaker connected this new claim to an August 2023 post that described Apple reworking how bands attach to the case, a change that would free up room inside for a bigger battery.
So Instant Digital also urged anyone eyeing a 2027 Apple Watch purchase to hold off on stocking up on extra bands now. That’s because a new case could render the current attachment system obsolete.
A pattern Apple followed before
The timing tracks neatly with how Apple has cycled through Apple Watch designs in the past. The first three generations of the watch, through the Series 3, shared a single design. Series 4 through Series 6 introduced another. And Series 7 through Series 9 carried a third. Apple debuted the current look with Series 10 in 2024. It trimmed the case, enlarged the display and folded the antenna into a new metal back.
Stretching that roughly three-year cadence forward past September 2026’s likely Apple Watch 12 release points to a refreshed design landing with the Series 13 in 2027 — exactly what Instant Digital now predicts.
The “Apple Watch X” concept itself dates back to a 2023. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman described Apple preparing its biggest watch overhaul yet, complete with a magnetic band system, a slimmer case and a microLED screen. None of that arrived with Series 10, so this latest leak suggests Apple may have simply pushed the redesign back rather than abandoned it. Notably, Instant Digital previously pegged the overhaul to 2028, so the timeline has now shifted a year earlier.
Other watch rumors
Separate reporting backs up the idea that bigger changes are brewing. Last year, reports suggested at least one premium Apple Watch would receive a significant redesign, probably with expanded health tracking. And this fall’s Apple Watch Ultra 4 could get its own major redesign with a sleeker form factor and better health alerts.
And earlier this month, Apple was also said to be weighing next-generation OLED display technology for the 2027 lineup.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
