Mark Gurman from Bloomberg published another weekly edition of his “Power On” newsletter, and he claimed a rumor that I honestly didn’t see coming. According to him, he expects that Apple could bring back the ceramic casing option for the first time in six years starting with the Apple Watch Series 12. This would make a significant revival for such an interesting casing material.
Back in September 2016, Apple introduced the Apple Watch Edition Series 2 in an exquisitely white ceramic case, which effectively replaced the first-generation Apple Watch Edition collection that came in 18K gold casings. Those gold Apple Watch models started as low as $10,000, which was exorbitantly high for such a smartwatch (not to mention overpriced for such tech that would eventually be obsolete), so this ceramic Apple Watch was much more affordable starting at $1,249, yet it still arguably appealed to the luxury market considering that ceramic is much more scratch-resistant compared to both aluminum and stainless steel at that time. The following year, Apple added a new gray ceramic case option for the Apple Watch Edition Series 3. The year after that, however, the Series 4 did not have an Edition collection, but with the Series 5 (Sept. 2019), Apple did bring back the ceramic models as part of the Edition lineup, which also added titanium case options as well. However, Apple killed off the ceramic models with the Series 6 (Sept. 2020), leaving titanium as the only case option for the Edition collection. The Edition collection would eventually be phased out as Apple focused on offering luxury models in partnership with Hermès.
So bringing back the ceramic case option for the Apple Watch Series 12 would be an interesting move for Apple. Maybe Apple will revive the Edition collection again, or the ceramic case option could be a special addition to the Hermès collection. Who knows? Still, don’t expect any major design changes with the Apple Watch Series 12, but the Series 12 could feature a faster CPU considering that it’s been almost three years since we last saw a CPU improvement from the Series 9 in 2023. Additionally, the Series 12 could feature a newer chip, as both the Series 10 and Series 11 feature the current S10 chip. The Apple Watch Ultra 4, on the other hand, could get a major design overhaul. Both the Series 12 and Ultra 4 could get some new hardware-related health features or sensors, but only time will tell. We won’t have to wait too long, as both of these smartwatches are expected to be announced next month alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models and the anticipated “iPhone Ultra” foldable.
