The next version of WatchOS is set to get a stripped-down version of the Watch Ultra's signature watch face, alongside multiple others, according to a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Whether this means the latest version of the OS will primarily be an aesthetics upgrade, or Apple has just stayed tight-lipped about WatchOS 27, remains to be seen.
With WWDC 2026 just around the corner, most eyes are on iOS 27, which is set to include the Google Gemini-powered Siri to strengthen Apple's AI efforts, but rumors on the latest from WatchOS have been minimal.
According to Gurman's newsletter Power On, Apple has several new watch faces in the works for the next version of WatchOS, but the most familiar of them is also the most notable. A new, modular watch face is set to make an appearance, which borrows heavily from the Modular Ultra watch face.
Apple Watch Ultra's modular watch face.
Apple/Screenshot by CNETThe new watch face is said to have removed the large complication in the center, the three smaller complications above the clock and the surrounding information around the bezel. What's left is a stripped-down version of the original: A massive clock that takes up the top two-thirds of the display, with three small complication options below it.
Simplifying this specific watch face could be an attempt to make it more approachable for the standard Apple Watch lineup, while providing glanceable information with the three complication options.
Apple Watch users are set to get another watch face before WatchOS 27. With the release of WatchOS 26.5, a new Pride Luminance watch face will be introduced, alongside an accompanying watch band in time for Pride month in June.
A smartwatch getting new watch faces is about as exciting as telling time itself. It's not particularly exciting -- even if it's something that's trickled down from a higher-end model.
An Apple representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.