watchOS 27: Three new Apple Watch features being announced next week

Apple will unveil watchOS 27 and its Apple Watch improvements next week at WWDC, here are three new features rumored to be announced.

#1: Upgrades to heart-rate tracking and high blood pressure features

Mark Gurman has reported that watchOS 27 will bring improvements to the Apple Watch’s heart-rate tracking features.

No specific details are known, but the improvements are expected to be supported by current Apple Watch hardware. Rumors indicate Apple Watch Ultra 4 may add a lot of new health sensors, so it’s possible Apple has even more feature improvements coming for new hardware.

Additionally, a recent Digitimes report said that a new high blood pressure notification feature is currently under review by the FDA. This is almost certainly a new feature coming in watchOS 27.

#2: New Modular Ultra-inspired watch face

New versions of watchOS consistently bring users new Apple Watch faces. And rumors indicate that in watchOS 27, one of those faces will be “a simplified take on the Modular Ultra design.”

Mark Gurman, writing at Bloomberg:

It has the same large clock as the Ultra face but removes the option for a big complication in the center, the row of three smaller complications above the time and information placed around the bezel. The result is a large clock that fills the top two-thirds of the display, with a row of three smaller complications beneath it. The move appears aimed at bringing a version of the Modular Ultra experience to standard Series watches

Modular Ultra is my favorite watch face Apple makes, and I’ve long wished it was available on Series models, not just the Apple Watch Ultra. I’m curious to see how this new face turns out.

#3: Siri improvements

Apple’s new and improved Siri will shine brightest in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. That’s because those platforms will have the full chatbot-style experience.

But the new Siri is expected to still benefit Apple Watch users in watchOS 27 too.

There’s no word on whether watchOS will have a standalone Siri app like on iPhone. But what seems more important is Siri being able to answer more complex requests, and overall be more reliable than it is currently.

New watchOS 27 features: wrap-up

Outside of the three features above, not much is known about watchOS 27. Per Bloomberg it will “focus largely on stability, performance and smaller refinements.” But there are sure to be a variety of surprises still awaiting us next week during Apple’s WWDC unveiling.

What new Apple Watch features do you want to see in watchOS 27? Let us know in the comments.

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