Apple Watch X wishlist: The biggest upgrades I’m waiting for

The Apple Watch, now approaching its 10th anniversary, has come a long way — especially in the past few years. Apple’s smartwatch continues to take small but meaningful steps forward, as evidenced by its upcoming watchOS 11 upgrade and the Double Tap functionality that debuted on the Apple Watch Series 9.

But the company may have big plans for this year’s Apple Watch, if a report Bloomberg’s report turns out to be accurate. Apple may break with its usual naming convention and call its next smartwatch the Apple Watch X (read: 10) in honor of the device’s 10th anniversary, similar to the iPhone X, the report says.

The so-called Apple Watch X, set to launch this year or in 2025, could reportedly feature a thinner design, a new strap attachment mechanism, a micro-LED display and blood pressure monitoring, according to Bloomberg. The new watch could also be more power efficient thanks to a new type of OLED display panel, the Korean news outlet reported. The Elec.

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There are plenty of ways Apple could improve its smartwatch. The company could turn its watch into an even smarter, more helpful health assistant with more integration of artificial intelligence. Since Double Tap is relatively new, there are plenty of opportunities for updates and optimizations that can make it more useful than actually tapping the screen. Changes like these could be particularly significant as Apple faces new competition from Google’s Fitbit, which plans to launch new AI-powered features this year, and Samsung’s Galaxy Ring.

With watchOS 11, Apple begins to address some of the Apple Watch’s shortcomings by adding features I’ve wanted for years, like the ability to customize daily activity goals. But here are a few additional ways the Apple Watch could evolve in 2024.

More AI intelligence, especially for health-related functions

Apple gave the Apple Watch Series 9 an AI boost by making it the first model to be able to process certain types of Siri requests locally. Requests that don’t require an internet response, like setting alarms or timers, can be performed on the device itself without pinging the cloud, speeding up the entire process. Siri can also respond to health-related queries this way, enabling it to answer requests about your previous night’s sleep and Activity Ring progress.

But Apple could make its watch an even more intuitive health agent, and it feels like this new Siri functionality is just a step in that direction. The rise of generative AI has opened up new possibilities for making sense of data by delivering answers in a more conversational way.

Google’s Fitbit, one of Apple’s health-tracking rivals, is already experimenting in this space. In October, Fitbit gave a sneak peek at a new program, called Fitbit Labs, coming this year. It will initially connect the dots between certain data points and use generative AI to answer questions like why you felt more tired than usual after your morning run. The company also thinks the AI ​​can help users set realistic fitness goals, Google’s Ajay Surie told CNET. Samsung is also trying to get a better understanding of how sleep and activity affect your current state with the recently introduced Energy Score metric in the Samsung Health app.

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These kinds of insights go beyond just logging data and turning it into a graph or chart. They make it easier to actually change your habits based on the information coming from your smartwatch. The Apple Watch’s Activity Rings already encourage you to get up and move or take a few extra steps. And the upcoming Vitals app in watchOS 11 will show you when certain health metrics measured overnight might be off. Now imagine how much more motivating and useful that information could be if Apple had its own kind of health assistant.

Future Apple Watches could indeed include more AI-powered health tools. Bloomberg reports that the tech giant is working on an AI-powered coaching program that will provide Apple Watch wearers with tailored suggestions and advice. Apple also just announced a number of upgrades to Siri , so it wouldn’t be surprising to see more improvements to Apple’s virtual helper roll out to the watch as well.

More Double Tap functionality

Apple should double down on Double Tap by adding more customization options. The gesture, which involves tapping your thumb and index finger twice, currently lets you scroll through your widgets, answer a phone call, snooze an alarm, pause a timer and more.

Double Tap isn’t meant to replace touching your watch, so its functionality is understandably limited compared to other gestures like taps and swipes. But I’d like to see more ways to personalize Double Tap. You could decide whether Double Tap cycles through your widget stack or selects a widget, or whether it pauses music or skips to the next track.

While I appreciate this flexibility, I wish there were other options. For example, you should be able to select whether to repeat a timer instead of ending it, or to snooze an alarm instead of dismissing it. Currently, Double Tap dismisses timers and snoozes alarms, with no option to decide to do the other action. I wish I could choose, or perhaps triple-tap, to do the other option instead.

Now that Apple is opening up Double Tap to allow app developers to choose specific actions within their app that work with this feature, we may indeed see more usage of it in the future.

An updated design

The Apple Watch has undergone a few design changes over the years, but it’s the higher-end Apple Watch Ultra that gets the biggest physical upgrades, like a larger display and a more durable build. While Apple shouldn’t stray too far from the current model, I’d like to see some changes. Apple refreshed the design of the iPhone for its 10th anniversary, so I’d imagine the company will do something special for the 10th-gen Apple Watch — maybe a new finish or color.

Bloomberg reports that Apple may have some design changes in the pipeline for the rumored Apple Watch X. The company is reportedly working on a slimmer chassis and microLED displays for the Apple Watch, which would make the small screen appear more vibrant.

A new magnetic method for attaching wristbands could also be in development for a future Apple Watch, according to the report, though it’s unclear if it would debut on the Apple Watch X. Such a change would likely have pros and cons for Apple Watch owners, however. On the plus side, it could make it easier for Apple to slim down the watch’s body, since Bloomberg’s report notes that the current attachment method takes up a significant amount of space. But it would also likely break compatibility with the past decade of existing Apple Watch wristbands.

Design isn’t always the most important element when it comes to tech gadgets. But smartwatches are an exception, as they’re meant to be worn in plain sight all day long. It’s one of those rare cases where a fresh design can be enough to convince people with older watches to upgrade.

An action button on the regular model

Ever since the Apple Watch Ultra debuted in 2022, I’ve been waiting for the arrival of the Action button on lower-end Apple Watch models. The Action button has proven to be a convenient way to quickly start a workout or switch between apps, and I’ve long argued that it should be part of the standard Apple Watch experience. When I tried out the Apple Watch Ultra in 2022, for example, I loved using it to kick off an outdoor workout with just a few taps. Using the OnePlus Watch 2, which has a customizable shortcut key, similarly made me realize how valuable it is to have a dedicated key for certain tasks.

Now that Apple has brought the Action button to the iPhone 15 Pro, I’m hoping to see it trickle down to other devices, like the anticipated Apple Watch X. Putting the Action button on premium products like the Apple Watch Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro was a good starting point, but it should become standard across everyone, even on cheaper iPhone models.

With widgets playing a bigger role in how we generally navigate the Apple Watch interface thanks to last year’s watchOS 10 update, there’s more room for physical buttons to shine when it comes to specific, focused circumstances, like shortcuts. And that’s especially important on a screen as small as the Apple Watch’s. The standard iPhone 16 models are also expected to get the Action button, according to Bloomberg And MacRumorswhich strengthens the argument that it should also be introduced on cheaper Apple Watches.

The Apple Watch is certainly more than just a smartphone companion and fitness tracker, but I’d like to see Apple take it to the next level by packing more intelligence into health tracking. Apple could also upgrade the Watch with useful features we’ve seen in other products, like the Action button. And it could embrace the device’s roots as a fashion accessory with a fresh look.