Very soon Apple will unveil watchOS 27 — the new operating system for its smartwatches. We’ve already covered the new features of iOS 27, and now it’s time for watchOS. An improved heart rate monitor, new watch faces, and a mysterious AI health coach that might not ship on time. Let’s break down what to expect from the update and when it will become available to everyone.
watchOS 27 will be a fairly uneventful update, but there will still be some new things
Heart Rate Monitoring on Apple Watch: What Will Change
The main new feature in watchOS 27 is an improved heart rate monitor. This was reported by Mark Gurman from Bloomberg in a recent issue of Power On. There are no specific details yet, but the fact itself is telling.
Heart rate monitoring will become more accurate
The thing is, Apple Watch has long been criticized for its infrequent heart rate measurements. Competitors like WHOOP update data more frequently and provide a more detailed picture. If Apple truly improves this aspect, the watch will become noticeably more useful for those who seriously monitor their health. By the way, improved heart rate tracking fits perfectly into Apple’s plans to launch an AI coach — the more accurate the data, the more useful the recommendations will be. But more on that below.
Apple’s AI Health Coach: When Will It Launch
About a year ago, news broke about Project Mulberry — Apple’s ambitious project to create an AI health coach. The idea was for artificial intelligence to analyze your Apple Health data and provide personalized recommendations. You could even point your camera during a workout and get tips on exercise technique.
AI is beginning to monitor people’s health
Originally, the feature was planned for release alongside an updated Health app in iOS 26.4. But then the plans were scaled back, and the launch was postponed to iOS 27. Now, according to Gurman, even that timeline may slip.
After Craig Cue took over leadership of Apple’s health division, Project Mulberry was significantly scaled back. Gurman writes directly that he doesn’t expect these features to appear until one of the interim updates — whether it’s iOS 27.1 in the fall or iOS 27.4 in the spring of next year.
The reason for the delay is clear: Apple felt that their product wasn’t on par with competitors. There are already health subscriptions from other companies on the market, and Apple doesn’t want to launch a half-baked solution. That makes sense, but users will have to wait.
New Apple Watch Faces in watchOS 27
According to Gurman, watchOS 27 will feature new watch faces for Apple Watch. Among them is the Modular Ultra variant, currently available only to Apple Watch Ultra owners. In the new version of the system, it may be opened up to standard models as well.
This is roughly the kind of watch face that should appear on Apple Watch
Overall, the update will focus on stability and performance. Major new features are not expected — Apple wants to polish what already exists. The watchOS platform is quite mature, and the company has clearly decided it’s better to refine current features than to add new half-baked ones.
An expansion of Apple Intelligence features on the watch is also expected. Currently on watchOS 26, when connected to an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, notification summarization, message translation, and a fitness assistant already work. In watchOS 27, the list of AI features will surely grow.
When Will watchOS 27 Be Released for Apple Watch
Apple will unveil watchOS 27 at the WWDC 2026 conference, which will take place from June 8 to 12. The presentation will happen on the first day — June 8 at 8:00 PM Moscow time. Immediately after the presentation, developers will gain access to the first beta version.
The new operating system will see the light of day in just 2 weeks
The public beta, as usual, will appear in July. And the final version of watchOS 27 will be released for all users in September 2026 — simultaneously with the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. If you were hoping for a revolution — it’s most likely not going to happen. watchOS 27 looks like a calm evolutionary update focused on stability. Improved heart rate monitoring is great, but it’s unlikely the kind of feature that will make you rush to update on day one.
The main intrigue is the AI coach Project Mulberry. If Apple does manage to bring it to completion and release it at least by the end of the year, it could become the most significant Apple Watch update in recent years. But for now, it’s more of a promise than a fact. In any case, we’ll learn all the details on June 8.
