2024 Apple Watch Ultra will get 10% larger display, claims sketchy report

Apple has been slowly growing the Apple Watch size since its 2015 debut. The original Apple Watch had a 1.5-inch display in a 38mm case.

A report from Digitimes suggests Apple will increase its Apple Watch size yet again, from the massive 1.92-inch display to one that's 10% bigger, or about 2.1 inches. The device is already incredibly large and unwieldy, depending on the user's wrist size. The increase is related to Apple's transition to MicroLED, but it isn't clear why.

This isn't the first we've heard of a 2.1-inch display in an Apple Watch. Analyst Jeff Pu shared a similar report suggesting the Apple Watch Ultra would get MicroLED in a 2.1-inch display.

That contradicts display supply chain analyst Ross Young, who believes MicroLED won't be coming to Apple Watch until 2025. Of the rumors, AppleInsider expects Young's to be the most accurate due to his track record.

Both Digitimes and Jeff Pu don't have the best track record. The information they have is gleaned from Apple's supply chain, but both sources have demonstrated a general misunderstanding of Apple's plans.

It's also not clear if this is a "chicken or the egg" situation. DigiTimes may have independent information from Pu, but it often will parrot a rumor from another source, with one of its own.

Apple could undoubtedly release a larger Apple Watch in the future, but another size increase so soon after the first Apple Watch Ultra seems unlikely. It isn't even clear how often Apple will update this high-end watch, as it could be on an every-other-year upgrade cycle.

If so, the second-generation Apple Watch Ultra would arrive in 2024. While this aligns with the report's timetable, the expectation that Apple would increase the display size by as much as 10% in a second-generation model two years after the first isn't grounded in history.