Apple is rumored to be planning something special for the 10-year anniversary of the Watch this September (quite like the iPhone got the iPhone X), although nobody really knows whether it’ll be a seismic leap like the iPhone X introducing the notch. Designer Luka Gehrer, however, designed what he believes to be the ideal evolutionary stage for the Watch’s 10-year anniversary. The Watch X comes with a few upgrades that make it even more unique than the Watch Ultra – Gehrer outfits it with an edge-to-edge screen, a hole-punch camera (which could easily function as a dynamic island), a blood pressure monitor built into the watch strap, and TouchID integrated into the crown. In doing so, Gehrer doesn’t just make the Watch better, he practically makes it a miniature iPhone… which is totally something Apple’s done before, turning the iPad into a miniature MacBook!
Designer: Lukas Gehrer (Wordsmatter.io)
For Gehrer, the watch is basically an extension of his phone, with added health benefits. You can answer audio calls on your watch, read messages on it, so why not accept FaceTime calls too? The Watch X sports an 8MP shooter on the front, thanks to a screen cutout (Apple would probably never do this), but as a compromise, Gehrer also pushes the screen to its limits, practically making a bezel-less display with edge-to-edge pixels. The result feels familiar but different, with a rather visible hole in the display that conveniently gets hidden by gradient watch interfaces that go dark as they approach the edges.
The camera serves as a crucial element for enabling FaceTime on the Watch X, but also allows you to occasionally click selfies or record videos or vlogs. I’d imagine the hole punch could easily serve as a dynamic island too, but dynamic islands on smartwatches may be a little too much too soon.
The Watch X (10th Gen) also gets a casing upgrade, with Gehrer opting for a squarish case design instead of the obvious curved case. Designed as a hat-tip to the iPhone 15, the case has flat edges, and a brushed metal finish reminiscent of the iPhone 15’s Titanium outer casing.
The presence of a camera also creates safety concerns, which is why the Watch X is the first to be outfitted with TouchID built right into its crown. Mimicking the TouchID found in the iPad Air’s power button, this adds a layer of security to the Watch X, ensuring that not everyone can access all of the watch’s core features.
In an unusual twist, the Watch X’s strap also gets is first sensor. The new Blood Pressure sensor on the strap sits on the front of your wrist under the palm, and comes based on a rumor from famed Apple leaker and analyst Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.
Apple’s iPad event ended with quite a flair last week, and Apple is gearing for WWDC soon. However, there’s a lot that’s planned for the September event. Quite a few Apple products need a refresh this year, although it’s pretty much set in stone that the September event will see newer versions of the iPhone, the Watch, and probably even the Watch Ultra. One can only speculate what the Watch 10th Gen will look like, but until then we’ve got this concept giving us dreams of being able to FaceTime on an Apple Watch without relying on the Wristcam strap from years ago!
