GoKawiilApple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off June 8, bringing a fresh batch of software updates across the company's ecosystem, including WatchOS 27 for the Apple Watch. This year, however, all eyes are on Siri. After years of falling behind rivals, Apple's voice assistant is reportedly set for its biggest overhaul yet, with new AI capabilities and deeper integrations expected to take center stage at WWDC.
With Siri's glow-up dominating the headlines, the WatchOS 27 update, which we expect to be iterative, will likely get buried. But that's not necessarily a bad thing if what Apple is really building isn't just a smarter assistant, but a smarter coach.
Last year was a big one for WatchOS. What was sequentially supposed to be WatchOS 12 became WatchOS 26 as part of a broader rebrand that unified Apple's software naming across the board. The Apple Watch got the same Liquid Glass visual overhaul as the rest of the lineup, battery improvements and a new Apple Intelligence-powered Workout Buddy feature that delivers personalized encouragement in your ear during workouts.
For runners like me, that means hearing things like, "This is your fastest mile yet," at exactly the moment your legs are threatening to give out.
The Modular watch face on the Apple Watch Ultra may be coming to the rest of the line-up. Apple
This year, by contrast, WatchOS 27 is shaping up to be more of a refinement release rather than a complete overhaul. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is working on improvements to heart-rate tracking and battery. He also mentioned the Modular Ultra watch face could finally arrive on standard Apple Watch models, bringing one of the Ultra's most requested features to the broader lineup. It's basically the watch face for people who want every available pixel occupied by useful information. And if the Siri overhaul arrives as expected, it's safe to assume some of its newfound intelligence would trickle down to the wrist.
Having spent time with Google's Gemini AI on wearables, I'd welcome the ability to get a direct answer from Siri instead of being handed a web link I'm never going to open on a tiny screen. But what I actually want from WatchOS 27, aside from better battery life, has more to do with what I don't want.
It seems like every major wearable brand has launched its own AI health coach. Is Apple next? Celso Bulgatti/Cole Kan/Fitbit/CNET
From buddy to coach
To be blunt, I don't want another subscription-based chatbot buried inside the Health app.
... continue reading