The next big watchOS update — watchOS 27 — will supposedly follow the same strategy as iOS 27. It will focus on stability and performance rather than introducing radical new features.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple will not launch its AI-powered health coaching service with the initial iOS 27 build.
Wait for Apple’s AI health coaching service keeps getting longer
Apple Watch is one of the best health-focused accessories you can pair with your iPhone today. However, with Google, Garmin, Whoop and others introducing new AI-powered health features on their wearables, the Apple Watch experience is starting to feel dated.
Apple was reportedly working on a new AI-powered health coaching service for the Apple Watch. It would work in tandem with the revamped Health app, using AI to analyze the collected health data and offer personalized recommendations.
Reports from late March 2025 indicated Apple’s engineers were actively working on the AI-powered health coaching service.
Unfortunately, more than a year later, the project is supposedly still not ready for launch.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, in his Power On newsletter, says he does not expect Apple to launch its AI health coaching service “until later in the iOS 27 update cycle.”
Hopefully, this only means the service will launch within weeks of iOS 27’s release, alongside iOS 27.1 or iOS 27.2, rather than several months later with iOS 27.4.
watchOS 27 should be about the little things
All signs point to iOS 27 being a Snow Leopard-style update, with a focus on stability and performance. Gurman says Apple will follow the same strategy with watchOS 27, focusing on stability and performance.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be any new features. Apple is reportedly working on improvements to heart rate tracking, likely aimed at making fitness and health data more accurate and consistent during workouts and daily use.
Beyond that, you can expect smoother animations, fewer bugs and some Liquid Glass tweaks to enhance readability. That’s about it.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
