The Apple Watch 3 is almost five years old now – if it were a child, it'd be in school right now. Yet Apple still supports the device, selling the aging smartwatch from its website alongside accessories and straps for it. But nothing lasts forever.
A prominent leaker and analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, has tweeted to say that “Apple Watch Series 3 may go to end-of-life in Q322” – that's July to September. The reason is apparently that the antique wearable “can't meet the requirements” of the next build of watchOS that Apple is expected to create.
While that only suggests the Apple Watch 3 won't get watchOS 9, Apple never sells products that it doesn't support with software, so we'd almost definitely see the smartwatch discontinued too.
This time scale suggests that this shift could happen in late September, when we're expecting to see the Apple Watch 8 (as well as the iPhone 14), as that's generally when new versions of Apple software get released for download. Apple also tends to discontinue older devices when it announces new ones.
Apple Watch Series 3 may go to end-of-life (EOL) in 3Q22 because the computing power can’t meet the requirements of the new watchOS.March 21, 2022
Analysis: an Apple reshuffle
The Apple Watch 3 has remained on sale for years as Apple's most affordable smartwatch, a device that misses out on the top-end features of the Watch 7, or even the middling offerings of the Watch SE, but at a much lower price.
We've been hearing that an Apple Watch SE 2 might be coming soon, but that'd likely be a mid-range device too – so if the Watch 3 does bite the dust, there might not be a truly affordable smartwatch from the company. That is, unless the current Watch SE gets a price shift.
So do we believe Kuo? Well, they have a fantastic track record, and it is curious that Apple still supports the Watch 3. We'll wait for official confirmation to be totally sure, but it seems fairly likely that the Apple Watch 3's days are numbered.
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