Apple Releasing watchOS 6 for Series 3 and Later Sept. 19, Delayed for Older Apple Watches

Apple today announced that it will be releasing watchOS 6 on Thursday, September 19 for the Apple Watch Series 3 and Series 4 models.

watchOS 6 will not be immediately available on Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watch models, with Apple instead delaying the release until "later this fall."

watchOS 6
It is not clear why older Apple Watch models won't be getting the update at launch.

September 19 is just one day before new Apple Watch Series 5 models are expected to begin shipping out. Apple Watch Series 5 pre-orders are available starting today on Apple.com.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

airtag purple

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch Next Year With These New Features

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development. Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag. Timing Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

No, Apple CEO Tim Cook Didn't Say He Prefers Logitech's MX Master 3 Over the Magic Mouse

Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false. The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Surpass iPhone 6 as Thinnest iPhone Ever

Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick. "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote. If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
iPhone 7 Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter

Apple Seemingly Discontinuing Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter Introduced Alongside iPhone 7

Sunday November 17, 2024 12:33 pm PST by
It appears that Apple is discontinuing the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that it released alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in 2016. The adapter was recently listed as "sold out" on Apple's online store in the U.S. and most other countries, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The adapter remains available from Apple in only a handful of countries, such as...
Apple TV 4K hero 221018 feature

It's 2009 Again: Apple is Apparently Reconsidering Making a TV

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:27 am PST by
Between around 2009 and 2011, it was repeatedly rumored that Apple would be releasing a TV, but that obviously never happened. Now, a decade-and-a-half later, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the idea is back on the table. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman briefly mentioned that Apple has been "evaluating" the "idea of making an Apple-branded TV set." He did not provide any further...

Top Rated Comments

Wig321 Avatar
68 months ago
Probably delaying it for performance reasons or something similar.

Out of interest, did the Series 5 not tempt you to upgrade? Even the series 4 is a massive jump over the 2.
For what I use it for the series 2 is still working great. I’m waiting to upgrade when the battery life is significantly extended. I thought today might have been the day!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BaggieBoy Avatar
68 months ago
Strange, the beta is running fine on my series 2.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jmausmuc Avatar
68 months ago
Blah blah blah
nice comment. Keep at it
[doublepost=1568144633][/doublepost]
Have the say I was stunned they didn't rev the hardware on the Series 5. Have a 3 and was slammed dunk for a update, but with Series 4 internals and a for sure hardware update with Series 6, now I'll have to think about it. I'm okay with raising my 3 to have the display come on (not a draw for me).
Wait one more year. I’m sure next years version will be a “full” upgrade.
Same with the iPhone btw
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sasparilla Avatar
68 months ago
Probably delaying it for performance reasons or something similar.

Out of interest, did the Series 5 not tempt you to upgrade? Even the series 4 is a massive jump over the 2.
Have the say I was stunned they didn't rev the hardware on the Series 5. Have a 3 and was slammed dunk for a update, but with Series 4 internals and a for sure hardware update with Series 6, now I'll have to think about it. I'm okay with raising my 3 to have the display come on (not a draw for me).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DaveMcM76 Avatar
68 months ago
The latest beta seems to be working absolutely fine on my series 2 but as I’ve just preordered a series 5 my main concern is now whether a watchOS 6 beta backup will restore ok on the watchOS 6 release version as it looks I won’t be able to update the series 2 before my 5 arrives.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KillerScoregasm Avatar
68 months ago
Probably trying to find a way to throttle those older watches but in a way they don’t get caught.. jk. What I think they should do is offer a light software version for their older model. I don’t use half the features of my bloated watch software..
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)