Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus is rumoured to be planning a big design shake-up at the company, and not before time. Apple has been facing accusations of design stagnation for a while now, and nowhere is this apparent lack of innovation clearer than in the case of the Apple Watch. But if new reports are to be believed, that could all change with Ternus at the helm.
According to everybody's favourite Apple leaker Mark Gurman, Apple's industrial design team has been "exploring a broader rethink of its smartwatches over the past year or so and is evaluating several different directions."
Apple is allegedly testing "devices with no displays, as well as different types of screens and various sizes". And it's even considering a smart watch with, shock horror, a round screen. According to Gurman, Apple has noted a shift within the wearables industry towards screenless fitness bands and rings.
It's notable that the Apple Watch design has changed so little over the years. The last significant redesign came with the Series 4 in 2018, introducing a more rounded design. Meanwhile, the WatchOS UI design is still adhering to what Gurman calls the "jelly bean" aesthetic of rounded pills.
If iPhone updates have been incremental over the last few years, then Apple Watch updates have been positively piecemeal. It isn't easy to distinguish one generation from the last, or even the last-but-two. Anything that might inject little life into Apple's wearable can only be a good thing.
