Why The New Apple Watch Series 11 May Be The Most Ambitious Model We've Seen Yet

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Apple is slated to denote caller hardware tomorrow. 
• Notable Apple Watch updates could beryllium coming, according to rumors. 
• Blood unit monitoring and slumber scores could beryllium connected nan way. 

We're hours distant from Apple's yearly September hardware event, wherever nan tech elephantine announces its latest releases, from iPhones and iPads to AirPods and, my favorite, Apple Watches. 

Also: Should you bargain nan iPhone 16 aliases iPhone 17? How to determine which exemplary to buy

Rumors are swirling astir what's to travel connected nan adjacent procreation of Apple Watches, which see nan Series 11, Ultra 3, and possibly moreover nan SE 3.

Apple's latest smartwatch software, WatchOS 26, gives america a fewer glimpses astatine what nan Series 11 is tin of. A caller Workout Buddy characteristic guides Apple Watch users done their workouts pinch encouragement, individual grounds announcements, and advancement reports. Apple's caller Liquid Glass show makes widgets, messages, and apps look clear connected nan watch and mimics nan show of Apple Vision Pro headset.

Outside of those package updates, I'm keeping my eyes and ears unfastened for rumors, murmurs, and whispers connected Apple's adjacent Apple Watch. Here's what we've heard truthful far. 

1. The afloat Watch lineup

Rumors opportunity we're getting not one, not two, but 3 Apple Watches astatine tomorrow's event. This includes nan baseline Series 11, nan rugged (and luxurious) Ultra 3, and a imaginable SE 3, Apple's affordable smartwatch. 

2. Launch timeline

Apple historically unveils its caller products astir nan 2nd week of September, and we expect this year's arena will beryllium nary different. After nan company's merchandise announcements, we tin expect a consequent rollout and shipment of nan caller devices astir a week aliases 2 later, arsenic has been nan lawsuit successful nan past. 

3. Sleep scores, astatine last 

Your slumber could beryllium getting graded soon if Apple adds slumber scores to its adjacent Apple Watch. MacRumor's Steve Moser recovered a "Watch Focus Score" and Apple Watch icon pinch an "84" people wrong nan codification of WatchOS 26 that hints astatine Apple's first foray into algorithmically monitoring and ranking clip spent and value of sleep. 

This is 1 characteristic I've been waiting for connected nan Apple Watch and person enjoyed utilizing connected respective different smartwatches and rings. The rumor pinch slumber scores, I've learned done testing respective slumber trackers myself, is nan truth that it's not an nonsubjective datapoint and tin disagree based connected nan device. When I was testing retired 3 wearables astatine once, I'd often person 3 different, albeit intimately related, slumber scores, which proved to maine that a slumber people characteristic can't beryllium wholly and wholly objective. 

Also: I took these 4 slumber trackers to bed. Here's which 1 I urge most

Because galore of nan wellness features Apple launches are backed by a bevy of objective investigation aliases cleared by nan FDA -- Apple's slumber apnea discovery feature, for illustration -- I'm funny really a slumber people characteristic would look and activity connected nan smartwatch, and really Apple will springiness it its ain sound aliases twist. 

4. New processor 

We will astir apt spot a caller processor connected nan Series 11 and Ultra 3, fixed nan truth that Apple upgrades its processor pinch each smartwatch release. 

5. Brighter display 

Modular Ultra watch look connected nan Apple Watch Ultra

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

The Apple Watch Series 10's highest brightness comes successful astatine 2,000 nits. But Apple is aiming to make its adjacent smartwatch brighter, according to serial Apple leaker Mark Gurman of Bloomberg. I've noticed that Apple's smartwatch rivals -- Google and Samsung -- person amped up their smartwatch's brightness to 3,000 nits. The Ultra 2 already has a highest brightness of 3,000 nits, truthful possibly nan Series 11 will return that brightness arsenic well. 

6. Larger Ultra screen 

According to Gurman, nan Apple Watch Ultra 3 gets a surface size upgrade. By really much? We don't know, but we'll find retired tomorrow. 

7. Satellite connectivity for Ultra 3

According to Gurman, outer connectivity and 5G support could beryllium coming to Apple's rugged Apple Watch Ultra 3, though they whitethorn skip nan Watch 11. This could beryllium connected par pinch Google's caller standalone outer feature, which doesn't require a bearer relationship for off-grid communication. 

8. Revamped Health app

Apple has been moving connected giving its Health app a facelift. 

According to Gurman, Apple has been moving connected a awesome Health app revamp, code-named Project Mulberry, that would bring AI recommendations and actionable wellness and fittingness insights to users. The astir notable summation is an AI wellness coach that could "replicate, astatine slightest to immoderate extent, a existent doctor," Gurman writes. 

Also: 5 Apple devices you decidedly shouldn't bargain this period (and 7 to get instead)

The wellness coach would usage nan information it collects from Apple's wearables aliases third-party apps to supply recommendations and insights. The AI supplier is being trained utilizing information from physicians connected staff, Gurman reports. 

Apple has leveraged AI already for Workout Buddy, a characteristic that provides stats, workout metrics, and encouragement erstwhile a personification logs a workout connected nan watch. 

9. Blood unit tracking 

A highly coveted characteristic could beryllium implemented connected nan Apple Watch, but it's yet to beryllium wished whether it's implemented successful some nan Series 11 and Ultra Watch 3 aliases 1 astatine all. 

Rumors astir a caller humor unit sensor that allows easy monitoring without an armband are swirling. Gurman wrote that Apple was ramping up nan rollout of nan feature, but it seems that humor unit monitoring has tally into galore hurdles. There's a chance it's not revealed this year. 

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