By Apple Watches are arguably the best smartwatch you can buy, but they need an iPhone to work and get the most use out of them. Still, the Apple Watch is as good as it will get for iPhone users. Apple is working on improving its smartwatches with timely software updates like watchOS 10 that add new features. But when is watchOS 10 releasing? We’ll tell you the release date for watchOS 17 and other details in this article.
QUICK ANSWER
watchOS 10 will be released to the public in September 2023, right when the iPhone 15 and new Apple Watches launch. A Developer Beta for watchOS 10 is already available for developers, while Public Betas will be available from July 2023 onwards for enthusiasts to try. We do not recommend Developer Betas or Public Betas to average consumers.
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When will watchOS 10 be released?
Apple officially announced watchOS 10 on June 5, 2023, but the first public stable release will come later in the year. You can expect watchOS 10 to be released to the public in September 2023, right when the iPhone 15 series and new Apple Watches launch.
If you cannot wait to try out watchOS 10, there are betas you can try. But be warned, these releases are very buggy. They are meant to be a testing ground for app developers to test their apps and try out the new APIs that Apple has added to the OS. As such, they are not intended to be used by average users, as features can and break frequently. If you rely on your Apple Watch for critical functions, we advise against installing the update.
Which Apple smartwatches are getting watchOS 10?
Apple has the best software support in the industry, but the company is not entirely immune to tech obsolescence. Sometimes older hardware is too old to deliver an ideal experience, making it imperative to drop support.
Thankfully, the situation remains good for this round of releases, as all Apple Watches that support watchOS 9 will be upgraded to watchOS 10. Here is the complete list of smartwatches getting updated to watchOS 10:
- Apple Watch SE
- Apple Watch SE (2022)
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- Apple Watch Series 6
- Apple Watch Series 7
- Apple Watch Series 8
- Apple Watch Ultra
There’s something else to note, though. You also need a supported iPhone on iOS 17 to pair with your watchOS 10 Apple Watch. For that, you need an iPhone XS, iPhone XR, or a newer iPhone with iOS 17. You can check out the full list of iPhones supported for iOS 17.
Is there a watchOS 10 beta?
Yes, Apple has released a watchOS 10 beta that can be installed on the smartwatches mentioned above. For the beta, you don’t need to be running iOS 17 betas, as the beta profile for the watch will be visible as a download option on iOS 16.4 in the Watch app.
Apple has also opened up the developer beta to all developers. You no longer need to pay an annual fee to join the Apple Developer Program just to get a beta profile to load onto your Apple devices. You just need to register on the Apple developer website for free to get the beta profile to appear for your Apple Watch.
A strong word of caution, though: once you install the beta on your Apple Watch, there is no way to downgrade back to stable. You can only move forward in releases, so you must wait and upgrade to the watchOS 10 public beta and then to the stable release. This is not ideal if you encounter any critical bugs, so we do not recommend that average users install the watchOS 10 beta on their primary Apple Watch.
To update to watchOS 10 beta, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, and navigate to My Watch > General > Software Update > Beta updates. Here you can choose from the available Developer betas to install.
FAQs
Apple has launched watchOS 10 to developers. Consumers can install watchOS 10 when it launches for the public in September 2023. Until then, you can try the watchOS 10 Developer Beta or the Public Betas to get a taste of the new update, though we do not recommend doing so as the update is still buggy and needs polishing.
