Friday’s prediction was spot on: “Apple will disappoint everybody on Monday”. However Apple Watch wearers and builders are greater than just a bit upset following the WWDC 2026 keynote. As a result of Apple has, properly, forgotten about its smartwatch.
Okay, there have been just a few scattered references to the brand new well being options, resembling pre-menopause monitoring, however the Apple Watch was solely on display for just a few seconds through the keynote!
Apple Intelligence – the largest star
The largest star of the keynote was, in fact, Apple Intelligence and the up to date Siri. That was predictable and comprehensible for Apple: Cupertino has lastly delivered what they merely confirmed two years in the past and needed to hold suspending.
This autumn, customers will be capable to work together with Siri in new methods and acquire their conversations inside an app. The sensible assistant will even be capable to draw on information from different apps and perceive the broader context of the question, in order that customers gained’t should roll their eyes in frustration and reduce the dialog brief.
Apple
There are just a few downsides too, resembling the shortcoming to deliver Siri AI to the EU (although it shouldn’t have an effect on the UK), however the Apple Watch was nearly fully absent from this idea on the WWDC stage.
{Hardware} limitations
In recent times, it has turn out to be clear that Apple is taking a barely completely different strategy to synthetic intelligence than its opponents, relying extra closely on fashions that may run completely, or not less than for essentially the most half, domestically on the gadget.
This strategy gives important benefits for Apple: With greater than two billion energetic gadgets, there isn’t a have to switch huge quantities of knowledge backwards and forwards between the top gadget and the server.
The draw back: Apple Intelligence is simply attainable as soon as a sure threshold of shared reminiscence and a particular chip era is reached. For Macs, this threshold is 8GB of RAM.
The Apple Watch doesn’t match into this idea in any respect. The utmost RAM on the Apple Watch Collection 11 and Watch Extremely 3 is 2GB. Apple additionally limits the processor to 2 high-performance cores. The Neural Engine is proscribed to 4 cores, whereas on the iPhone and most Macs, the co-processor for machine studying is supplied with 16 cores.
What Apple did announce for the Apple Watch
If the Apple Watch have been an actress in one of many Apple TV collection, her function in right this moment’s WWDC keynote could be downgraded to that of an additional: though she delivered throughout filming, whether or not she seems within the movie is determined by the manufacturing’s remaining reduce. She’ll should show her presence to family and friends with a screenshot.
Apple did, in truth, point out its smartwatch on the sidelines of the occasion. On the very least, it appeared repeatedly within the graphics illustrating the partnership between Apple Intelligence and Siri 2.0. But there are few tangible modifications: Apple is introducing a brand new app view on the Apple Watch that prominently shows 5 at present related apps. A form of sensible stack, barely expanded.
Apple
Exercise Buddy, a wise coaching assistant that compares present exercise information with earlier developments and gives sensible suggestions, additionally confirmed some indicators of life. Exercise Buddy is now accessible in Spanish and can be utilized with out a connection to the iPhone. You can begin a Siri dialog out of your wrist, however the iPhone close by does a lot of the work.
The “Discover My” app has been barely revamped on the Apple Watch and combines the views for folks, gadgets and objects.
What Apple ought to announce for the Apple Watch
With a lot Apple Intelligence and contextual data, one big space stands out that can profit from higher analytics and proactive suggestions – the Well being app. There have lengthy been rumours that Apple is bringing one thing just like Exercise Buddy, however for basic well being, and will present an interactive coach for the consumer.
This might be an ideal extension of Apple Intelligence and tailored for the Apple Watch. As a result of even when the evaluation takes place on the iPhone, a lot of the information comes from the Apple Watch. The outcomes of those analyses might be displayed on each the iPhone and, in a smaller format, the Apple Watch.
Apple
watchOS shake-up
The largest shock might be the watchOS 27 compatibility listing. While iOS 27 helps all gadgets appropriate with iOS 26, the gadgets appropriate with watchOS 27 might be counted on one hand: Apple Watch SE 3, Collection 10 and 11, Apple Watch Extremely 2 and three.
There was confusion in regards to the Collection 9 being left off the compatibility listing, however Apple has since confirmed it was a mistake and it’ll get watchOS 27.
The Apple Watch Extremely 2 can also be on its final legs – it’s the solely gadget on the listing nonetheless working on the SiP S9. Apple will probably reduce help subsequent 12 months.
Apple
Too weak for Apple Intelligence, however too necessary
At this 12 months’s WWDC, Apple is exhibiting the place the journey with Apple Intelligence is headed. Ideally, the AI fashions ought to run on the gadget itself, with none third-party servers and even an web connection.
For iPhones, iPads and Macs, the producer laid the groundwork for this future again in 2017: the primary iPhone with a Neural Engine was the iPhone X. For gadgets that may’t sustain, Apple is making cuts.
Immediately’s drastic cutback in appropriate fashions means that Apple has an AI resolution up its sleeve for the Apple Watch. Nevertheless, this can require considerably extra sources than the comparatively latest Watches can present.
This text initially appeared on our sister publication Macwelt and was translated and tailored from German.