- Apple is expected to unveil three new Apple Watch models in 2025
- A new report claims the plastic redesign of the SE 3 has put the budget model in "serious jeopardy"
- The Ultra 3 and Series 11 blood-pressure tracking feature is also reportedly causing issues
Apple is expected to unveil three new Apple Watches in September 2025, but a new report says all three are facing design and development challenges ahead of launch.
The headlines for the company's next three best Apple Watch contenders include a new blood-pressure monitoring system for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch Series 11, and a significant design overhaul for the budget Apple Watch SE 3.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Apple "continues to run into problems" with testing the blood-pressure tracking feature on the two more premium models.
He also says the planned switch to a cheaper plastic casing has put the Apple Watch SE 3 redesign in "series jeopardy."
According to Gurman, Apple's design team "doesn't like the look" of the cheaper material, and the operations team "is finding it difficult to make the casing materially cheaper than the current aluminum chassis."
Apple Watch 2025 setbacks
These rumored setbacks will no doubt be a cause of concern for Apple, which needs to deliver a stellar 2025 Apple Watch lineup to make up for a fairly disappointing 2024 that only delivered one iterative Series 10, no Ultra 3 upgrade, and limited watchOS 11 changes.
There is some good news, though, as Gurman seems to indicate that the rumored satellite texting feature for the Ultra 3 is on track, as is the Reduced Capacity 5G upgrade, which will give users a cellular connectivity boost when using their device without their iPhone.
However, the headline features, notably blood-pressure monitoring, were to be a huge selling point of the more expensive models. If Apple can't deliver that, serious questions will be asked at Cupertino.
What's more, there will be even less reason for fans to upgrade from the Series 10 or even from older models. A recent (albeit sketchy) report indicated that Apple Watch shipments declined in 2024, causing the smartwatch market as a whole to shrink for the first time in history. That makes the success of this year's models all the more important.
Gurman doesn't specify what the issues are, but it could indicate problems with the accuracy of blood-pressure data, battery drain, false positives, or several other things.
Apple can take some solace in the fact that it might be able to ship the hardware onboard the Series 11 and Ultra 3, enabling blood-pressure monitoring at a later date, but that outcome would come a distant second for the company compared to offering the feature at launch.
If any company can turn around the issues it's Apple, but the expected launch of its new watches – alongside iPhone 17 – is less than six months away, which means it needs to get developing and prototyping out of the way much sooner than that.
The Apple Watch SE 3 hiccup is a different story. I'm personally less enthused by the rumored switch to plastic, so if Apple doesn't like the look of that material, and it's not going to be any cheaper than aluminum, why not stick with the more premium-feeling material anyway?
Whether Apple can overcome either of these setbacks remains to be seen. We won't know for sure until the watches launch, but expect more updates on this story as September approaches.
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