The Apple Watch Series 6 is likely to look similar to the Apple Watch Series 5. Reports indicate that there aren’t any major changes in store for the Apple Watch Series 6’s industrial design and that it will follow the same general form factor as the Series 4 and Series 5.
That being said, it’s not out of the question that Apple will offer new finishes, colors, and casing options for the Apple Watch Series 6. With last year’s release of the Series 5, Apple debuted an all-new titanium option.
What’s in store for this year? We don’t know yet, but possibilities include new colors for existing casing materials, new materials altogether, and much more. And of course, Apple will likely have new band options and colors as well.
One of the tentpole features of this year’s Apple Watch update is expected to be blood oxygen level detection. Code found within iOS 14 by 9to5Mac has indicated that Apple Watch will add it this year.
How would this work? Blood oxygen levels between 95% and 100% are considered healthy; blood oxygen levels below 80% may lead to compromised heart and brain functionality. Risk of respiratory or cardiac arrest is common after continued low blood oxygen saturation. This feature would work similarly to existing watchOS heart rate notification features. If Apple Watch detects a blood oxygen level below a certain threshold, it will trigger a notification for the user.
Building on blood oxygen level detection, Apple is also developing improved electrocardiogram (ECG) capabilities for Apple Watch Series 6. Apple Watch Series 4 and 5 currently result in inconclusive ECG readings with heart rates between 100 and 120 beats per minute. A future update, either in software or hardware, will remove that limitation with an upgraded version of the ECG app.
As of right now, it is unclear whether these new health features will be limited to the Apple Watch Series 6 or if watchOS 7 might also bring them to the Apple Watch Series 4/5. History suggests Apple will want to use these features to push upgrades to the Series 6, but we’ll have to wait to find out for sure.
