It wouldn’t make as much sense for the top-flight Ultra to have an older processor than the standard Series 9 or Apple Watch SE, now would it? What’s next? And if there is, it will be a processor update only, to bring it into line with Series 9. But the Ultra is a premium smartwatch, so it could see a refresh this fall. Even so, I would not be surprised if there’s no refresh of the Ultra at all, just as the first update to the Apple Watch SE came after two years, not one. Judging by just how many people I’ve seen wearing the Apple Watch Ultra, I’d guess this Watch has been a big success. And, just possibly, we could see the return of the ceramic finish for Apple Watch Series 9.

That said, there are likely to be some different colors for both the aluminum and stainless-steel models. So, unless there had been quite the upheaval, I’d have predicted Series 9 will stick with the current look. Series 7 increased the screen size and this design was retained for Series 8. Series 4 brought a bigger change, held over for Series 5 and Series 6, as well as Apple Watch SE, both the original and the new generation that appeared last year. That’s three years with pretty much identical design. Apple ran the same design for the first Apple Watch, then with Series 1 and Series 2, as well as Series 3. Again, this could change in the future with different software and a faster processor. Those sensors are emphatically not designed to work as a thermometer or provide wrist temperature on demand.

Apple watch update