Apple announced watchOS 27 today at WWDC, the next major operating system update for the Apple Watch, which is expected to be released in the fall. Apart from Siri AI, Apple's new chatbot based on Google Gemini, the update brings hardly any new features. However, software support will be dramatically restricted.
While watchOS 26 was still compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6, 7, 8 and 9, the first-generation Apple Watch Ultra and the second-generation Apple Watch SE, Apple is cutting software support by four smartwatch generations. If you want to install watchOS 27, you need an Apple Watch Series 10 or 11 ($299 on Amazon), an Apple Watch Ultra 2 or 3, or an Apple Watch SE 3. This means that the Apple Watch Series 9, which was launched two and a half years ago, has only received two major operating system updates.
This is annoying, not least because the smartwatch is equipped with the Apple S9. The same chip is also used in the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which was launched at the same time as the Series 9, but is confirmed to receive the update to watchOS 27. Since the Apple S6, S7 and S8 of the three previous Apple Watch generations were technically identical, there could at least be technical reasons for the lack of compatibility with models based on these chips.
However, the fact that Apple is leaving customers who bought an expensive smartwatch just two years ago out in the cold shows that Apple Watch updates cannot be relied upon. Anyone who buys a Apple Watch should no longer expect long-term software support. It's a shame, because in the smartwatch market in particular, long-term updates have been a real advantage of the Apple Watch compared to many of its competitors.
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