Gurman says Apple’s design team has spent a year exploring circular screens, screenless bands and new price tiers and cautioned that the round model is unlikely to be released. This year’s watches get no redesign at all.
Leak-based reporting. Apple has announced none of this. All details come from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, and the company has not settled on a direction.
Summary
Apple’s industrial design team has spent around a year exploring a broad rethink of the Apple Watch, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Options under evaluation include circular displays, screenless wearables, new sizes, premium tiers above the Ultra and cheaper models below the SE. Gurman cautioned that a round Apple Watch is unlikely to reach market, and said this year’s models receive no redesign.
Key Takeaways
- Apple’s design team has explored a broad smartwatch rethink for about a year
- Options include circular displays, screenless devices, new sizes and new price tiers
- Gurman cautioned that a round Apple Watch is unlikely to be released
- Apple has not settled on a direction
- Gurman compared the ambition to the iPhone’s shift to a foldable design
- This year’s Series 12 and Ultra 4 receive no design overhaul
- The Apple Watch SE is not expected to be refreshed this year
- The bigger redesign is a year or two away; blood sugar detection later this decade
- Apple held roughly 90% of Edge AI smartwatch shipments in Q1 2026
What Gurman Actually Reported
Several directions under evaluation, with no decision made.
| Under consideration | Status |
| Circular displays in various sizes | Explored — Gurman says unlikely to be released |
| Screenless Apple Watch-style devices | Under evaluation |
| Different screen types and new sizes | Under evaluation |
| Premium tier above Ultra and Hermès | Contemplated |
| Cheaper models below the SE | Contemplated |
Apple is described as “determined to reinvent the lineup in response to growing competition” but has not settled on a direction.
The scale of ambition is the notable part. Gurman compared the planned evolution to the “revolutionary design change” represented by the foldable iPhone “something that transforms the product for a new era” and said the revamp “could be as significant as the iPhone’s transformation from a slab design into a foldable device.”
Apple also plans to make its wearables more AI-focused, with long-term plans to revamp the Health app.
The Correction Worth Making
“Round Apple Watch” is leading much of the coverage. Gurman explicitly said it is unlikely to ship.
A circular display is one option among several that a design team has explored during a year of evaluation. Exploring a concept and productising it are different stages, and Gurman flagged the gap directly.
Anyone writing this up should carry the caveat in the same breath as the claim. A headline promising a round Apple Watch, on reporting that says it probably will not exist, is the kind of thing that gets corrected in September.
Nothing Changes This Year
Gurman reported two weeks ago that Apple is in late-stage testing on three watches, none of them redesigned.
- Series 12 — Wi-Fi (N237) and cellular (N238)
- Ultra 4 — N240
- Apple Watch SE — no refresh expected, following the SE 3 last year
This cycle brings internal upgrades: health and fitness tracking improvements and a chip refresh Gurman described as long-awaited. The design stays as it is.
The bigger rethink is “not for another year or two.” Blood sugar detection is not expected until later this decade.
A conflicting report to note: DigiTimes has pointed to a major Ultra 4 redesign, while Gurman says no 2026 model gets one. Those cannot both be right, and the discrepancy is unresolved.
Why Apple Is Doing This
The threat is not from other smartwatches. It is from a different product category.
Screenless fitness bands and smart rings have grown into a genuine alternative:
- Fitbit Air Google’s screen-free band
- Garmin Cirqa Smart Band screenless
- Samsung Galaxy Ring
- Oura Ring
These offer passive health tracking without a display, a daily charge or a screen competing for attention. They solve a version of the problem the Apple Watch solves, differently.
Apple’s position is strong and its growth is not. Counterpoint Research found Apple accounted for roughly 90% of all Edge AI-capable smartwatch shipments in the first quarter of 2026, in a category where Edge AI penetration grew 70% year over year to reach 25% of the market.
Yet the Wearables, Home and Accessories segment has struggled to generate growth for several years. Dominating a category that has stopped expanding is the problem this rethink is meant to solve.
The Pattern This Follows
Apple has historically waited for a category to mature before entering it.
The foldable phone is the current example: Samsung has shipped them since 2019, and Apple’s first is expected next month. Reporting notes the same approach appears to apply here, with no indication Apple is currently developing a screen-free band and no leaked renders of one.
That is a defensible strategy and a slow one. It has worked repeatedly. It also means Apple enters after competitors have shaped customer expectations and in a market where Oura and Samsung have several years of ring data behind them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Apple making a round Apple Watch?
It has explored the idea, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman cautioned that such a device is unlikely to be released. It is one of several concepts a design team has evaluated, not a product in development for launch.
What is Apple considering?
Circular displays in various sizes, screenless Apple Watch-style devices, different screen types and sizes, premium variants above the Ultra and Hermès models, and more affordable options below the Apple Watch SE.
Will this year’s Apple Watch look different?
No. Gurman reported Apple is in late-stage testing on the Series 12 in Wi-Fi and cellular versions and the Ultra 4, with no major design overhaul. The focus is internal upgrades and a chip refresh.
When would a redesigned Apple Watch arrive?
Gurman indicated the bigger rethink is a year or two away. Apple has not settled on a direction, so no timeline should be treated as firm.
Why is Apple rethinking the Watch?
Because of competition from screenless fitness bands and smart rings including the Oura Ring, Samsung Galaxy Ring, Fitbit Air and Garmin Cirqa, and because its Wearables, Home and Accessories segment has struggled to grow.
Is Apple making a smart ring?
There is no indication it is currently developing a screen-free band or ring, and no leaked renders exist. Apple has historically waited for categories to mature before entering them.
How dominant is Apple in smartwatches?
Counterpoint Research found Apple accounted for roughly 90% of Edge AI-capable smartwatch shipments in the first quarter of 2026, in a segment where Edge AI penetration grew 70% year over year.
When is blood sugar detection coming?
Not until later this decade, according to Gurman. Non-invasive blood glucose monitoring remains a significant technical challenge and Apple has been working on it for several years.
Conclusion
The headline everywhere is a round Apple Watch. The reporting says a round Apple Watch is unlikely to ship.
What Gurman actually describes is a company that dominates its category, cannot grow it, and is watching customers buy screenless rings from competitors instead. The design team’s year of exploration is a response to that, and it has not produced a decision.
Meanwhile the watches arriving next month look exactly like last year’s. Whatever transforms the product for a new era, it is not this September.
