Apple drops support for five Watch models due to Siri AI

Apple has officially confirmed that processing power requirements for its new Siri AI features are the reason several recent Apple Watch models will not receive the upcoming watchOS 27 update. The company is dropping support for five models: the Apple Watch Series 6, 7, and 8, the Apple Watch SE 2, and the first-generation Apple Watch Ultra. This marks a significant shift from Apple's typical long-term software support, effectively cutting three years of device support with a single update.

The new software will only be compatible with Apple Watch Series 9 and newer, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and newer, and the Apple Watch SE 3. In an interview, Cait Dooley, Apple's product marketing manager for Apple Watch and Health, stated that with every software release, the company prioritizes power and performance to ensure the best user experience. She explained that the major new features in watchOS 27, including the enhanced Siri AI and a new tap gesture, work best with the processing power available in the supported models.

Senior director of watchOS software engineering, David Clark, elaborated that a key goal for watchOS 27 was to expand the intelligence capabilities of the Apple Watch,...