Don't expect any big Apple Watch Ultra upgrades in 2024, analyst says

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has been on sale since September of last year and that came a year after the original Apple Watch Ulta went on sale. With that in mind, it doesn't take too much figuring out to assume that Apple will also update the Apple Watch Ultra 2 to something new this coming September, although it remains to be seen whether it winds up being called the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Whatever title Apple gives it, we've been told not to expect too much from the refreshed wearable.

That's because supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple isn't going to bring any big new hardware upgrades to the Apple Watch Ultra 3, meaning anyone who already has the Apple Watch Ultra 2 might not want to upgrade this year. However, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 wasn't a huge upgrade over the Apple Watch Ultra either, so it's unclear what kind of differentiation Apple will offer this time out.

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This bombshell comes via a MacRumors report which cites Kuo having received a direct message from the analyst. Kuo says that while the Apple Watch Ultra will indeed be updated to receive a new model this fall, he believes that almost no hardware upgrades will be offered compared to the Apple Watch Ultra 2 model. However, he did not reveal any specific plans for the Apple Watch Ultra 3, so it's unclear which changes he expects to be part of the new model's unveiling.

Alongside the updated Apple Watch Ultra a new, third-gen Apple Watch SE is expected to debut but it's as-yet unclear what Apple's plans for the Apple Watch Series 9's successor are. There had been some suggestion that an Apple Watch X could arrive, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the original Apple Watch's debut. That arrived in 2014, and Apple has a history of marking such an occasion. The iPhone X was a celebration of the original iPhone 10 years after it launched, and an Apple Watch X seems likely based on that.

However, what that Apple Watch X will offer is unclear. There have been suggestions of blood pressure and sleep apnea sensing technology, but it's unclear whether those features will make the 2024 device or whether they will also be part of the Apple Watch Ultra 3's spec sheet. It seems likely given the fact the Apple Watch Ultra sits at the top of Apple's wearable lineup, and it would be difficult to charge more money for fewer features.