Apple Watch 10 tipped for bigger display, faster chip and thinner case

The Apple Watch will be 10 this year and to mark the occasion, the company plans to make significant updates to its smartwatch. The wearable is going to be thinner, have a larger display, and it'll have a faster processor too. 

Apple's focusing its attention on the Apple Watch Series 10 this year, it is claimed. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 isn't due an update: it only launched at the end of 2023 and even that was a surprise, because Apple was expected to be sticking to a two-year upgrade cycle for its most premium wearable.

According to Bloomberg, that's the plan now – so while the Apple Watch 10 will be a significant upgrade, the Ultra won't get a significant design upgrade until next year.

So what can we expect from this year's 10th anniversary watch?

Apple Watch Series 10: what to expect

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, both successors to the Apple Watch Series 9 will be upgraded with larger screens, with buyers of the larger version getting a display "that’s about as large as the one found on the Apple Watch Ultra".

Despite the larger display the casing itself will be thinner, and inside there will be the next generation of Apple's S-series processor for wearables.

While the processor will be more powerful than the current model, don't expect to run Apple Intelligence on your wrist: that's currently destined for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, and even then not until 2025. According to Gurman there are no plans to bring full Apple Intelligence to the Apple Watch.

Some questions still remain. The first is when we'll actually see the anniversary watch, because while the Apple Watch was first announced in 2014 it didn't actually ship until 2015. It's possible that Apple might choose to celebrate the latter date so it can make more of a fuss about the Watch; if it sticks with its usual Autumn release then the iPhone 16 is going to be the device that's getting all the attention.

The second question is what, if any, additional health sensors we'll see. Bloomberg says that Apple's planned blood pressure and sleep apnea sensors have "run into some serious snags" that mean they're unlikely to arrive as intended later this year.