watchOS 11: What to Know Right Now

Apple’s hard at work on a new watchOS 11 update for Apple Watch and today we want to give users an early look at what we know and what we expect.

As we push into 2024, we’ve heard quite a bit about iOS 18 for iPhone and a bit about macOS 15 for Mac. And now, we’ve finally heard about Apple’s plans for watchOS 11.

Given the lack of information, we’ve received questions from family, friends, and readers about watchOS 11 and today we want to answer as many as we can.

Using the leaked information and years of experience covering Apple software, we can put together an early look at what to expect from watchOS 11 and its release.

If you’ve owned an Apple Watch for a long time, you probably know some of this already. If you haven’t, or you’re looking to set your expectations, here’s what you need to know about the next Apple Watch operating system right now.

What Apple Watches Will Get watchOS 11?

This is the burning question on the minds of Apple Watch users because for some, it will determine if they upgrade to a new model this year or stick with what they got.

Apple will confirm a full list of watchOS 11 eligible Apple Watch models at WWDC 2024 in June. You can expect most, if not all, watchOS 10-powered models to get the upgrade.

Apple Watch models typically get left behind on older software after five to six years of software upgrades which means the Apple Watch 4 may get left behind on watchOS 10.

A report from French blog iPhoneSoft suggests this will be the case.

Below is a list of Apple Watch models that should get upgraded to watchOS 11:

watchOS 11 Eligible Apple Watch Models

• Apple Watch Series 5
• Apple Watch SE
• Apple Watch Series 6
• Apple Watch Series 7
• Apple Watch Series 8
• Apple Watch Series 9
• Apple Watch Ultra
• Apple Watch Ultra 2

You can also expect Apple’s new Apple Watch 10 and Apple Watch SE 3 to run watchOS 11 out of the box.

watchOS 11 Beta

Again, Apple will confirm watchOS 11 at WWDC 2024. The event starts on June 10th and stretches to June 14th.

The company typically pushes beta software to developers on the first day of WWDC which means you can expect the first watchOS 11 beta to roll out the afternoon of June 10th.

There will be two versions of the watchOS 11 beta: A developer beta and a public beta for users registered in the Beta Software Program.

Apple’s typically launches public betas in July so that’s what Apple Watch users should expect right now.

watchOS 11 Release Date & Time

Apple’s watchOS 11 update will stretch over several months culminating with a final release in the fall.

We don’t know many versions of the beta the company will release, but we should see at least six versions of the beta before Apple pushes the final version of the beta, known as the Golden Master (GM).

Apple releases new watchOS operating systems in September alongside new iOS software for the iPhone. That’s what to expect from the watchOS 11 release date right now.

The company will likely confirm the precise date on stage during its fall event for the upcoming iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch SE 3.

As for a specific date, we expect new hardware to arrive on Friday, September 20th or Friday, September 27th.

If this happens, you can expect watchOS 11 to roll out on September 16th/17th or September 23rd/24th.

watchOS 11 Features

We haven’t heard much about watchOS 11’s features. Most rumors have centered around iOS 18 and Apple’s plans for AI.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman believes iOS 18 will be a large upgrade for iPhone, but he doesn’t think watchOS 11 will be substantial.

He says Apple Watch users should expect a “fairly minor” update which means we won’t see a massive redesign. It’s also unclear if Apple’s AI features will reach the Apple Watch.

We should hear more about Apple’s plans in the months ahead so bookmark this page and check back for frequent updates.