Apple drops support for watchOS 27 on original Apple Watch Ultra, SE 2, and several other models

Apple just announced watchOS 27, and it’s delivering a wakeup call for many owners of older Apple Watch models. The upcoming update will only run on the Apple Watch SE 3, Series 9–11, Ultra 2, and Ultra 3 — leaving the original 2022 Ultra, SE 2, and earlier Series models without the new redesigned app grid, upgraded Siri, and other features.

Even Apple’s premium rugged flagship from just a few years ago gets only three major OS updates before being cut off, highlighting the company’s increasingly aggressive hardware cutoff strategy. If you own one of the unsupported watches, this fall’s update means no new software features — though basic functionality will continue.

Sam Byford for Fast Company:
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The first came out in 2022, so it will have received only three operating system upgrades over the course of its entire life cycle. And this wasn’t a throwaway product — it was Apple’s first significant expansion of the Watch lineup, coming with an all-new design and a $799 price tag. Mine is still going strong; I wasn’t particularly tempted to upgrade to the Ultra 2 or 3.

But now Apple is rendering it obsolete. WatchOS 27 is a fairly significant update, bringing a redesigned app grid and the new version of Siri, and it won’t be coming to the Ultra.

The reason is almost certainly the chip. The original Ultra used Apple’s S8 system-in-package, which actually used the exact same CPU as the S7 and S6 before it. In other words, the Ultra launched with a two-year-old chip.

That wasn’t much of a problem at the time, and really, it hasn’t been much of a problem today… But when the 2 arrived in 2023 alongside the Series 9, the two new watches did bring a meaningful silicon jump. Their S9 chip included a faster GPU, a new Neural Engine, and support for features like on-device Siri processing and a system-level gesture invoked by double-tapping your thumb and finger together.

Given that the Apple Watch Series 9 is also receiving watchOS 27, it would seem that Apple is using that chip transition to mark a line in the sand and move forward with a new generation of hardware and software.

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Time to upgrade! Apple Watch uLtra turns four years old on September 23rd – an eon in tech time.

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Source link: https://macdailynews.com/2026/06/11/apple-drops-support-for-watchos-27-on-original-apple-watch-ultra-se-2-and-several-other-models/