Don't wait for the Apple Watch 10: the Series 9 is a fairly future-proof buy

If you've been following Apple Watch news you might have decided to hang off on buying the Apple Watch Series 9: rumours say there's going to be a significant redesign in a future generation, likely to be called the Apple Watch X. But it looks like those predictions are premature: according to a new report by a respected industry insider the 2024 Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Series 10, isn't going to be significantly different, let alone significantly better.

The report, by Ming-Chi Kuo, says that two of the most wanted Apple Watch features aren't going to make it into the Series 10. 

What can we expect from the Apple Watch Series 10?

It's more a case of what we shouldn't expect. According to Kuo, both the blood glucose monitoring feature and the micro-LED display we've heard lots of rumours about aren't going to be ready in time for the Series 10. Kuo says that both are at least two years away from production, and maybe more.

So what does this mean for the Apple Watch X? That was reported to be a model to celebrate the Apple Watch's tenth anniversary, which – depending on who you talk to – is either September 2024, the anniversary of its unveiling, or April 2025, the anniversary of it actually shipping.

It's possible that that device is still in the pipeline, and that it'll be a version of the Apple Watch Ultra rather than the more mainstream Apple Watch. And it's possible that Apple may go for the latter of the two anniversary dates, so the micro-LED display could possibly make it into that model after all.

I do think that perhaps we in the tech press expect a bit much when it comes to Apple Watch generations; we are, after all, talking about a watch rather than a computer so the changes from generation to generation are rarely massive. As with iPhones, you'll notice differences more if you hang on to a model for a bit longer – so for example I skipped the Apple Watch Series 8 and just upgraded my Series 7 to the Series 9, and I'm pleased by the differences; they're not huge, but they're nice to have. If you're upgrading from a 7 or earlier, I think you'll be pleased by the improvements and won't feel the need to upgrade for a few years afterwards.