AINEWS
Apple's First $800 Watch Ultra Just Got Left Behind
The 2022 Ultra won't run watchOS 27, Apple's next smartwatch update shipping this fall. The Series 6, 7, 8, and SE 2 are out too, and the reason comes down to a single piece of silicon.
The 2022 Ultra won't run watchOS 27, Apple's next smartwatch update shipping this fall. The Series 6, 7, 8, and SE 2 are out too, and the reason comes down to a single piece of silicon.
When Apple releases watchOS 27 this fall, the original Apple Watch Ultra, the $800 titanium expedition watch the company shipped in 2022, will stop receiving updates. So will the Apple Watch Series 6, 7, and 8, the SE 2, and every other Apple Watch that doesn't ship with a four-core Neural Engine.
That's the practical news from Gizmodo's coverage of Apple's WWDC announcements, and it tracks the supported-device list reported by MacRumors on June 12. The full compatibility roster is tight: Apple Watch SE 3, Series 9, Series 10, Series 11, Ultra 2, and Ultra 3. Everything else is cut.
The mechanism behind the cutoff is small but blunt. watchOS 27 leans on the four-core Neural Engine that first shipped inside the S9 system-in-package, the chip that powers the Series 9 and the Ultra 2. The original 2022 Ultra runs the older S8 silicon, which lacks that neural block entirely. Without it, watches cannot run the new Dynamic App Grid, which surfaces five Siri-suggested apps when the user turns the Digital Crown, nor the updated on-device Siri that watchOS 27 uses to parse context. The original Ultra can technically run the build, but Apple has chosen to gate the release on hardware that can handle the AI features at the center of the update.
This is not a sudden break. Apple's own watchOS 26 release notes already shipped hypertension notifications and the Workout Buddy feature only to Series 9 and later, and to Ultra 2 and later. That meant the original Ultra was already missing the marquee Apple Intelligence features before watchOS 27 even arrived. The 2026 update simply hardens the line: anything older than the S9-era Neural Engine is now out of the supported list, full stop.
The criticism that follows is real, and it is not just grumbling. The original Ultra sold for around $800 and was marketed as a rugged, long-life expedition watch. Four years later, it is the only major Apple hardware casualty of this cycle, and it is being dropped for a reason that has nothing to do with the screen, the battery, or the case. A 2019 iPhone 11 will run iOS 27 this fall. The 2018 original HomePod, which runs on the ancient A8 chip, is reportedly still supported by HomePod Software 27. Only the first Ultra is being cut because of a missing Neural Engine.
That contrast tells readers where Apple has drawn its new floor. If your wrist carries a Series 9, 10, or 11, an Ultra 2, an Ultra 3, or an SE 3, watchOS 27 will land in the fall with the usual mix of improvements: better battery life, faster initial Wi-Fi, more accurate sleep tracking, faster media playback, faster app extensions, and the new Dynamic App Grid. MacRumors' preview lists those wins for supported hardware.
If your wrist carries anything older, the news arrives with a smaller feature set. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, in his Power On newsletter dated June 14, 2026 and reported by Gizmodo, says Apple is also preparing a new Modular watch face with a larger clock and three customizable slots, with Ultra models getting a more complex version. That face, like the Dynamic App Grid, will not arrive on unsupported hardware. The Walkie Talkie app, removed from the current watchOS 27 dev beta, is also missing in action pending any reversal Apple has not announced.
The takeaway for buyers is mechanical. If the next watch you buy has to last more than three or four years on Apple's update curve, it needs S9-era silicon or newer. The original Ultra is the first casualty of that rule, and it will not be the last.