Screenless fitness bands like the Garmin Cirqa and Fitbit Air are cheaper and less distracting alternatives to the Apple Watch, and their popularity hasn’t gone unnoticed. Bloomberg reports that Apple is working on a major rethink of its wearable line that could mean the company offers a competing screenless wearable, or at the very least, an Apple Watch that looks very different from the square puck that sits on millions of wrists today.
Apple’s exploration into possible new form factors for the Apple Watch has been ongoing for the last year or so, according to Bloomberg. The company will release iterative updates in the form of a Series 12 and an Ultra 4, and possibly the first ceramic Apple Watch since 2016. After that, things could change more significantly. Apple is considering making its own screenless devices and smartwatches with different types of screens in various sizes. Bloomberg notes that even round screens are being considered. The company could also offer more premium models than its $799 Ultra and $1,249 Hermès models and more affordable options than the $249 SE.
The changes, whenever they arrive, will likely be paired with Apple’s larger push into AI. As it stands, the upcoming watchOS 27 enables you to interact with Siri AI from your wrist and includes a new menu interface that guesses which app you’ll want to use next, but otherwise hasn’t been rethought for AI. Future versions of Apple’s wearables will reportedly be more “AI-centric,” possibly as an extension of the company’s long-rumored plan to offer an AI-powered health coach.
Apple quickly retreated from the fashion aspirations of the original Apple Watch after launch, and the company’s smartwatch has become much simpler as a result. You can buy three varieties of Apple Watch in 2026, far fewer than the five types of iPhones the company sells (soon to be six, with the launch of a foldable option). Adding to that smartwatch lineup, either with a cheaper model or some other form factor entirely, would be a natural extension of the “something for everyone” logic that’s worked on the company’s smartphones. By design, even a cellular Apple Watch still has to be set up on an iPhone, keeping the phone at the center of everything. As long as Apple’s future wearables don’t upset that relationship, all kinds of devices could be on the table.
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