NewsTechnology DevicesThere will be no watchOS 11 upgrade for these Apple Watches.

Apple is ending support for certain older smartwatches due in part to the possibility that the processor isn’t strong enough to take use of watchOS 11’s new capabilities.

During the just ended Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), Apple debuted watchOS 11 and iOS 18, which both have a ton of new and helpful features. The significant thing to note is that Apple is discontinuing support for three of its earlier smartwatch models, but the future upgrade will still work with the company’s most recent smartwatch models. These consist of the Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, and the original Watch SE (1), which was the brand’s first reasonably priced smartwatch.

Why does Apple not support smartwatches from the Apple Watch Series 5 and earlier models?
The S4 and S5 processors are out of date and are included in the Apple Watch Series 4 and Watch Series 5. Because these chipsets share a CPU, their performance is comparable. Interestingly, the 2020 release of the Apple Watch SE has the same older S5 chipset. Put another way, the computing capability of the Apple Watch SE, Series 5, and Series 4 is the same.

It’s conceivable that these older smartwatches lack the processing power needed to operate the newest AI-powered capabilities. For those who are curious, Apple last upgraded its processors to a far more powerful model with the Watch Series 6.