This New watchOS 11 Feature Will Require an Apple Watch Series 10

Apple will kick off WWDC24 with a Keynote Address on Monday, during which it’s expected to announce many new features for its venerable operating systems, including watchOS 11.

Among those features in watchOS 11 is one that will be appreciated by users with a certain medical condition. However, those users will need to purchase an Apple Watch Series 10 to take full advantage of it.

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Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg:

The Health app is getting some upgrades, including improved blood pressure data management — in preparation for future Apple Watches to have hypertension detection.

The new feature will require the blood pressure sensor that Gurman says will be included in the next generation of the Apple Watch.

Specifically, Gurman says Apple will include a new blood pressure sensor in this year’s Apple Watch Series 10. However, the first version of the blood pressure reading technology won’t provide exact systolic and diastolic results.

Last November, Gurman noted that Apple will start with a more basic sensor:

The planned addition of a blood pressure sensor to the Apple Watch next year is a pathbreaking technology. In its first iteration, however, the system is designed to just tell a user if their blood pressure is trending upward and to offer a journal for the user to jot down what was happening when hypertension occurred. To avoid potentially giving a misdiagnosis, the feature will then direct a user to talk to their doctor or check their blood pressure with a traditional cuff, which can provide exact systolic and diastolic measurements. A future version of the system is in the works with an ability to provide exact numbers — and even diagnose related conditions.

watchOS 11 should be announced during the WWDC24 keynote address on June 10 alongside iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, tvOS 18, and visionOS 2.0. Beta versions of those operating systems, including watchOS 11, will likely be released to developers soon after the WWDC24 keynote.

Based on our experience in previous years, Apple will likely release a public beta of watchOS 11 and the other operating systems for download sometime in early to mid-summer.

The Apple Watch operating system should be released to the public sometime in September, likely somewhere around the release of the new Apple Watch Series 10 models.

Apple did not drop any older Apple Watch models from its compatibility rolls for the Apple Watch Series 9. However, this could be the year the Apple Watch Series 4 falls from the compatibility list, as its technology will be six years old in the fall. (Technology years are like dog years, so six-year-old technology is considered ancient.)

That said, the Apple Watch Series 4 uses the same processor that powers the first-generation Apple Watch SE, which is only going to be four years old. It might be a tough sell for Apple to support one Apple Watch model with watchOS 11 and not the other.

Some watchOS 11 features will work only with recent Apple Watch models, which boast faster processors, always-on displays, newer health sensors, and larger displays.

Apple’s WWDC keynote presentation is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Pacific time (Noon Central Time, 1 p.m. Eastern Time) on June 10.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]