Apple is weighing the most radical rethink of the Apple Watch since the product launched — including a fitness band with no screen at all. In his Power On newsletter on August 9, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple's industrial design team has been exploring a broad redesign of the smartwatch lineup, comparing the ambition to the "revolutionary design change" of the foldable iPhone — "something that transforms the product for a new era."
To be clear: these are explorations, not announced products. Gurman notes Apple has not settled on a final direction. But the list of ideas under evaluation is unusually long:
- A screenless fitness band — an Apple Watch-style device with no display, answering the resurgence of minimalist fitness bands and smart rings.
- A round-display Apple Watch — considered, though Gurman cautions such a device is unlikely to actually ship.
- New screen types and sizes to diversify the range beyond today's rectangular formula.
- Premium models above the Ultra and Hermès editions, alongside cheaper options below the Apple Watch SE.
Why Apple is rethinking the Watch now
The Apple Watch's basic design has stayed largely unchanged since 2018, with recent generations — including the current Series 11 and Ultra 3 — bringing only incremental updates. Meanwhile, screen-free wearables have become the growth story in fitness tracking, a trend that has already produced dedicated screenless bands from established players like Garmin's subscription-free CIRQA. A display-free Apple band would meet those devices head-on while funneling health data into the iPhone.
Alongside the hardware, Gurman reports Apple wants its wearables to become more AI-driven, with a smarter Siri on the wrist and an ambitious long-term revamp of the Health app — continuing a direction already visible in the dedicated Siri app that appeared in the watchOS 27 beta.
What a screenless Apple band would change
Dropping the display changes the product's whole logic. A screenless band shifts the experience to sensors, long battery life, and the companion app on your iPhone — exactly the formula that has made minimalist trackers attractive to people who find a full smartwatch distracting or too expensive. It would also give Apple a health-data on-ramp for users who keep a mechanical watch on their wrist. The trade-off is equally clear: no notifications, no apps, no watch faces — the things the Apple Watch has spent a decade selling. That tension is likely why Gurman describes multiple parallel explorations rather than a single chosen successor, and why he stresses that Apple "has not yet settled on a direction" for the lineup.
What arrives first: Series 12 and Ultra 4
None of the exploratory designs are expected imminently. The next concrete step is the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, expected at Apple's September event alongside the iPhone 18 lineup, with faster performance, new colors, and further health features — a possible return of a ceramic case option included.
Will any of this reach Philippine stores?
There is nothing to buy yet, and no timeline — Filipino buyers should treat the screenless band strictly as a direction Apple is testing. For now, the local lineup on Apple's Philippine store starts at ₱15,990 for the Apple Watch SE 3, ₱26,490 for the Series 11, and ₱54,990 for the Ultra 3. If Apple does ship a cheaper screenless band, it would land below the SE — potentially Apple's first wearable under the ₱15,000 mark, and a direct rival to the fitness bands that currently dominate that price tier here. As with any report based on unreleased plans, the ideas Gurman describes can be changed or shelved before they ever reach a store shelf, so the safest read is directional: Apple sees screen-free wearables as a real category, not a fad.
