At the WWDC 2024, Apple showed off the upcoming features with the new watchOS 11 update. The update focuses on fitness training, blood pressure monitoring, pregrancy tracking algorithms, and other watch face customizations. Besides that, you can rest your rings and get more details about your workouts with the new Training Load feature. However, you’d want to know that the watchOS 11 update is compatible with which Apple Watch models.
Apple Watch Models That Support watchOS 11
Apple’s new watchOS 11 will support only the Watch models released in the past 4 years. Only the iPhone XR and later models running iOS 18 will work with the new watchOS update. Here is the list of Apple Watch models that are compatible with watchOS 11 update:
- Apple Watch Series 9 (2023)
- Apple Watch Series 8 (2022)
- Apple Watch Series 7 (2021)
- Apple Watch Series 6 (2020)
- Apple Watch Ultra 2 (2023)
- Apple Watch Ultra (2023)
- Apple Watch SE (2022) and newer
Apple Watch Models That Won’t Support watchOS 11
Apple quietly yanks the software support for the older Watch models, and that’s what most expect. Surprisingly, the first Watch SE series model won’t get the watchOS 11 update. Here’s a list of Apple Watch models that aren’t getting the watchOS 11 update:
- Apple Watch SE (2020)
- Apple Watch Series 5 (2019)
- Apple Watch Series 4 (2018) and older
Apple usually releases the final versions of the iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, audioOS, and watchOS updates in September (or early October). While that’s still months away, you can try out the watchOS 11 developer beta to check out the new features. Here’s what you need to do:
Enroll your eligible Apple Watch model in the Apple Developer Beta program using your Apple Account (Apple ID) details. Then, open the Watch app on your iPhone or iPad and navigate to General > Software Update > Beta Updates. Ensure it’s set to On to fetch the latest developer beta updates.
After that, the app will fetch the watchOS 11 developer beta. Note that developer betas often contain many bugs and glitches. You can sign up for Apple’s public beta program and wait for it to start in July.
We recommend that you take a backup of the watchOS before you install any of the betas on it.
