- Apple presented Watchos 26 at wwdc yesterday
- Watchos 26 is compatible with Apple watches that dates back to years
- But some of its best features require a more recent device
When Apple presented Watchos 26 on WWDC 2025 yesterday, it showed an operating system that had been updated with a range of welcome of new features and skills. However, if you expect to try them, you will want to verify if your Apple Watch is compatible, because many of the most popular models will not be.
At first glance, most of the best Apple Watch models will work with Watchos 26. Apple says it is compatible with the 6 -or 6 or posterior Apple series 6 series, the Apple Watch se second generation, in addition to all Apple Watch Ultra models; You also have to match your watch with an iphone 11 or later that IOS 26. That is a good range of devices that date back many years.
But there are several features that will only work if you combine your watch with a much more recent iPhone. For the beginning, anything driven by Apple Intelligence will require an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 pro max or any device of the iPhone 16 range. That immediately raises the compatibility threshold with the Apple artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
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In addition to that, some of the new features introduced in Watchos 26 have their own requirements. The gesture of ‘doll film’, for example, needs an Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10 or Ultra 2. Again, this excludes many of the oldest devices that can technically run Watchos 26.
Verify the small impression
Possible limitations such as this show that it is important to verify the requirements of the device before getting excited to download an update such as Watchos 26. That new tool that caught your attention may not work with your existing hardware.
And it is especially vital to do this before buying a device. You may have found a lot in an older Apple Watch, for example, but you cannot execute the characteristics you are dying to try, you will not be lucky.
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Watchos 26 has a lot of new interesting updates, which include a liquid glass design review, a fitness assistant of training friends, improved intelligent battery algorithms and more. If you want to try any of these, be sure to verify if your Apple Watch is compatible.
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