Apple Watch Series X won't work with old bands, claims leaker

By William Gallagher

A leaker says that Apple is totally changing how bands connect to Apple Watch, rendering all existing bands incompatible.

Apple's clever system for attaching Watch bands may be redesigned

It's been strongly rumored before that the Apple Watches being released in 2024 will feature a major redesign to mark the tenth anniversary of the device. Specifically, it's already been claimed that the Apple Watch Series 10 or perhaps Series X, will replace how bands connect.

Now leaker Kosutami has tweeted that he or she is certain a major change is coming, and coming to the next generation of Apple Watch.

It's not clear whether this is information sourced from the leaker's own research, or a repeat of a previous rumor.

Kosutami does not give any further details, despite some pleading from commenters on the thread in Twitter/X. But while there are no details and no attributed source for this rumor, Kosutami has previously leaked correctly about FineWoven bands before they launched.

The leaker did also incorrectly claim that the iPhone 15 range would get braided USB-C cables, however.

Prior to that, Kosutami leaked about unused color options that Apple had considered for a MagSafe charger, but rejected. It has appeared, though, that the leaker at least has some access to Design Validation Test models of some Apple devices.

The claim that this change will apply to the next generation of Apple Watch could mean that the Apple Watch Ultra will feature the same redesign. It's unlikely that Apple would apply such a significant redesign to the Series 10 but not the Ultra, although not unheard of.

However, recent reports have suggested that there won't be an Apple Watch Ultra 3 in 2024.

The previous rumors concerning Apple changing how bands connect to the Apple Watch have claimed that the new system would be magnetic.