watchOS 26 → 27
Pick two releases to see what's new, which settings Apple moved and which devices were left behind — built only from Apple's own pages.
- New features
- 20
- Settings moved
- 0
- Models dropped
- 5
- Newly supported models
- 2
New features
New in watchOS 27 · 20
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Call Context
Surfaces relevant information from your apps when calling a business.
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Daytime vitals
Vitals adds daytime resting heart rate and heart rate variability.
On Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4
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Dynamic app grid
Highlights Siri-suggested, popular and recent apps, with the Siri app in the centre.
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Extended Workout mode
Turns on Low Power Mode for the length of a workout.
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Find My app
Find Devices, Find People and Find Items merge into one map-centric Find My app.
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Heart rate variability
View heart rate variability (HRV).
On Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4
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Max Extended Workout
Longer battery life for Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Run and Hiking workouts, with some metrics unavailable.
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Perimenopause and menopause tracking
Log perimenopause and menopause symptoms, get educational resources and pattern notifications.
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Pride Luminance
A dynamic analog face inspired by multiple Pride flags.
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Readiness app
A score that indicates when you are ready to push yourself and when to rest.
On Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4
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Real-time heart rate chart
A live-updating chart of heart rate measurements.
On Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4
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Shazam in Smart Stack
Shazam identifies music quickly from the Smart Stack using on-device audio intelligence.
On Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4
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Single tap gesture
Select a Smart Stack widget with the single tap gesture.
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Siri AI
A conversational assistant (beta) that draws on world knowledge, personal context and what is on the watch, and can take action in apps.
Siri AI is available in beta on watchOS 27 or later on Apple Watch Series 9 and later, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later, and Apple Watch SE 3 when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 16 model or later with Siri and device language set to a supported language.
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Siri Modular
A watch face for making quick requests to Siri.
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Siri app
A Siri app to view, continue or start conversations.
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Sound Recognition
Listens for sounds such as doorbells, sirens or a crying baby and notifies you.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 can continuously listen for certain sounds—such as a doorbell, siren, or crying baby—and notify you when it recognizes these sounds.
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Steps complication
Track steps in real time from the watch face.
On Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4
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Treadmill distance accuracy
A redesigned pedometer model measures treadmill run and walk distance more precisely.
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Workout Buddy enhancements
Workout Buddy adds pace, distance and duration insights and works without iPhone over Wi-Fi or cellular.
Available in English and Spanish.
Settings that moved
From the Watch settings tracked by the Settings Pathfinder, compared between Apple's 26 and 27 User Guides.
None of the tracked settings moved.
Compatibility changes
Runs 26, not 27 · 5
Runs 27, not 26 · 2
“Not 26” usually means the model came out later. Only models in Osnivo's verified device list are counted.