New Apple Watch Pro Leaks Lead To Accessory Uncertainty

An underrated convenience of owning one of Apple's smartwatches is that the bands are reusable. Even though the sizes of Apple Watch models have gone up over the years, bands suitable for the 38mm, 40mm, and 42mm variants continue to be compatible with newer models that come in 42mm, 44mm, and 45mm case sizes, respectively. Unfortunately, that perk may be going away this year with the most interesting model in the Apple Watch Series 8 lineup, which is slated to debut in the fall season.

As per a leaker's post on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, the rugged variant of the Apple Watch Series 8 will likely bump up the band's width, which means straps made for previous-generation Apple smartwatches won't fit. Tentatively called the Apple Watch Pro, this particular variant will feature a display that is almost two inches in size, surrounded by a metallic frame with flat edges, at least according to the leaks we've seen over recent weeks.

Apple is reportedly going to give this Pro model a few extra layers of protection because it's targeted at extreme sports enthusiasts. There is no word on what material Apple is going to use in order to reinforce the casing or what the upgraded ingression protection will look like, but none of it will come cheap — plus, if the aforementioned prediction turns out to be true, buyers will have to take a bigger hit to their wallets in order to get an extra pair of compatible bands.

While the juiciest rumors so far about the Apple Watch Pro have come from Bloomberg, the latest one spilling bad news about new strap size doesn't come from a source with the most solid track record. On top of that, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has tweeted that older Apple Watch straps will probably be compatible with the upcoming rugged variant, which may well debut carrying the name Explorer Edition.

However, Gurman adds that straps made for the older Apple Watch models might look a bit out of place when clasped to the Apple Watch Pro. Needless to say, take these conflicting claims with the proverbial pinch of salt and wait until Apple officially lifts the covers from its latest and greatest smartwatches a few weeks from now.

Apple is expected to launch a total of three smartwatches later this year. The lineup includes the vanilla Apple Watch Series 8 in two sizes, the next-gen Apple Watch SE, and the highly anticipated sports-centric model. As for new features, Apple might add a temperature sensing module that will warn users about fever symptoms. More sports-centric features are also said to be in the pipeline, alongside a crash detection system.