{"id":589589,"date":"2026-08-11T04:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T04:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/589589\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T04:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T04:54:12","slug":"a-round-apple-watch-is-possible-but-an-apple-ring-more-likely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/589589\/","title":{"rendered":"A round Apple Watch is possible, but an Apple Ring more likely"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t<img width=\"1600\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A-round-Apple-Watch-is-possible-but-an-Apple-Ring-more-likely.jpg\" class=\"skip-lazy wp-post-image\" alt=\"A round Apple Watch is possible, but an Apple Ring more likely | Photo shows the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, a round smartwatch\"  decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Bloomberg report yesterday suggested that we could see a pretty dramatic shake-up in a future <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/guides\/apple-watch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Apple Watch<\/a> lineup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In particular, it suggested that the company was exploring the possibility of one or more models with <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/08\/09\/apple-watch-revamp-redesign-round-screen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">a round rather than square form factor<\/a> \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Most smartwatches are round<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While square-faced watches have existed for well over a century, the majority of conventional watches are round, and the same is true of Android smartwatches. For example:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Apple is unusual in opting for a rectangular format, so it\u2019s perhaps not surprising that the company would be considering also offering a circular Apple Watch in future.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s an argument for a round Apple Watch<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reason Apple opted for the rectangular form factor is that it allows greater information density. It\u2019s no accident that all of the other screens we use \u2013 phones, tablets, laptops, monitors, and so on \u2013 are rectangular.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Essentially, the choice comes down to aesthetics versus utility. Some will always prioritise utility, so a rectangular Apple Watch form factor certainly isn\u2019t going away. But others place a very high value on aesthetics, and many people do have a strong preference for round watches, be they conventional or smart. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, not everyone who wears an Apple Watch needs a lot of information displayed on the screen. There are plenty of arguments for wearing an Apple Watch, even if you don\u2019t often look at the display. For example:<\/p>\n<p>Health and fitness monitoring<\/p>\n<p>Sleep tracking<\/p>\n<p>Emergency features, like fall detection<\/p>\n<p>Contactless payment<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first of these is by far the greatest draw for many, and if you\u2019re not primarily using an Apple Watch as a content consumption device, then a round screen could be perfectly viable for you.<\/p>\n<p>But Apple Ring arguments are stronger<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, if you fall into this category \u2013 primarily using an Apple Watch for health and fitness monitoring, and not really using it to view information \u2013 I would argue that a smart ring is a far \u2026 smarter bet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I made the switch myself from an Apple Watch to <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/guides\/oura-ring-diary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">the Oura smart ring<\/a> back in 2024, recently <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/06\/19\/the-oura-ring-5-is-the-ultra-smart-wearable-you-wont-know-youre-wearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">upgrading<\/a> to the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4hZiXl0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">5th-generation model<\/a>. I appreciate the fact that it\u2019s extremely unobtrusive, allows me to wear my own choice of conventional watch, and that it only has to be charged once a week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s almost <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2024\/08\/09\/oura-ring-diary-im-sold-and-apple-should-be-too\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">two years ago to the day<\/a> that I said I was sold on a smart ring as an alternative to the Apple Watch, and argued that Apple should make one. I remain every bit as convinced of this today, and Gurman says that Eddy Cue is also a big fan of smart rings, suggesting it\u2019s more likely than not.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I do think it\u2019s possible that Apple will offer a round Apple Watch model, but I think it\u2019s even more likely that we will see an Apple Ring. What\u2019s your take? Please share your thoughts in the comments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/a-close-up-of-a-person-wearing-a-smart-watch-COvwQWG2XMc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Samsung Galaxy Watch 7\/Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/9to5mac.com\" aria-label=\"Add 9to5Mac as a preferred source on Google\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-source-badge-dark\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/google-preferred-source-badge-dark.png\" alt=\"Add 9to5Mac as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-source-badge-light\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757113987_373_google-preferred-source-badge-light.png\" alt=\"Add 9to5Mac as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer-affiliate\">FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/about\/#affiliate\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Bloomberg report yesterday suggested that we could see a pretty dramatic shake-up in a future Apple Watch&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[203,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-589589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-gadgets","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}