Rumor: Apple won’t release the Apple Watch Ultra 3 next year

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 was officially unveiled last month, a year after the release of its predecessor, the original Ultra model. Based on that, you might assume that the Watch Ultra 3 would be announced alongside the 16th-generation iPhone in September 2024. That would be a logical assumption, but as it turns out, it could be wrong. Renowned supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today that the company hasn’t started work on the next Watch Ultra yet, and that’s a bad sign.

And that’s a bad sign.

He said this is «unusual» given the length of the development cycle. It presumably means that by this time last year, work on the Ultra 2 was already underway. According to Kuo, if Apple doesn’t start development of the Ultra 3 by December, it’s «virtually confirmed» that we won’t see a new Watch Ultra in 2024.

Kuo believes this could be because the Apple giant needs more time to develop «innovative health management features», ensure the «manufacturability of the new features» and address issues related to micro-LED manufacturing.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 will not be released next year.

Without the release of the Ultra 3 in 2024, shipments of the Ultra series next year are expected to be down about 20-30% from 2023, and the company’s total smartwatch shipments next year are expected to be down about 10% from the current year, totaling about 35 million units.

The company’s smartwatch shipments next year are expected to be down about 10% from the current year, totaling about 35 million units.

Of course, this is just speculation, albeit from a reliable source. But the thing is, Apple still has another month or so to start developing the next Ultra in time for the usual launch date, so we shouldn’t completely rule out this option just yet.

An Apple Watch 3 is still a possibility.