Apple released watchOS 11 on September 16, 2024, adding features including the Vitals app, Training Load, sleep-apnea notifications on select models, more flexible Activity rings, Check In, Translate, and new watch faces. It supports Apple Watch Series 6 and later, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models when paired with an iPhone XS or later running iOS 18 or later. watchOS 11 is no longer Apple’s current major watchOS release; check Apple’s release pages for the latest version available to your watch.
Here’s what changed, which features have hardware or availability limits, and how to check compatibility before updating.
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watchOS 11 at a glance
| Detail | watchOS 11 |
|---|---|
| Release date | September 16, 2024 |
| Compatible watches | Apple Watch Series 6 and later; Apple Watch SE (2nd generation); all Apple Watch Ultra models |
| Paired iPhone requirement | iPhone XS or later running iOS 18 or later |
| Headline additions | Vitals, Training Load, sleep-apnea notifications on select models, Activity ring customization, Check In, Translate, Tides, and new watch faces |
Apple’s watchOS 11 announcement describes the launch features. Apple’s compatibility information lists the watch and iPhone requirements.
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Which Apple Watch models support watchOS 11?
| Apple Watch model | Compatible? |
|---|---|
| Apple Watch Series 6 and later | Yes |
| Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) | Yes |
| Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2 | Yes |
| Apple Watch Series 5 and earlier | No |
| Apple Watch SE (1st generation) | No |
A compatible watch also needs to be paired with an iPhone XS or later running iOS 18 or later. Some watchOS 11 features require newer hardware or may depend on country or region, so compatibility with the update does not mean every feature will be available on every watch.
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![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/416RQ0rtsUL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
Health and fitness features
Vitals app
The Vitals app brings together overnight measurements such as heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, sleep duration, and blood oxygen where available. It compares readings with your typical range and can notify you when at least two overnight metrics are outside that range. The app may also provide context about factors such as illness, elevation changes, alcohol, or medications.
Vitals relies on overnight data and regular watch wear; it is not continuous medical monitoring. Blood oxygen availability can vary. Apple notes that in the United States, blood oxygen is unavailable in the Vitals app on certain watches purchased on or after January 18, 2024, with part numbers ending in LW/A. See Apple’s Vitals guide for details.
Sleep-apnea notifications
On supported models, Apple Watch uses wrist-movement data during sleep to track a metric Apple calls Breathing Disturbances. After collecting data over a 30-day period, it may notify a user of consistent signs associated with moderate to severe sleep apnea. A notification is not a diagnosis, and not receiving one does not rule out sleep apnea.
At watchOS 11’s launch, the supported models were Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Apple’s feature also requires sleep tracking to be set up, at least 10 nights of wear within a 30-day period, the user to be 18 or older, and the user not to have a diagnosed sleep-apnea condition. Availability is subject to regional authorization. For setup and medical-use limitations, see Apple’s sleep-apnea notifications guide.
Training Load
Training Load compares the intensity and duration of recent workouts with your recent baseline. Apple’s launch description says it uses a weighted 28-day training load and compares the latest seven days with that baseline. The result is a workload trend, not a medical assessment, guaranteed training prescription, or promise to predict injury.
Rank #2
![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Rose Gold Aluminum Case with Light Blush Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31caPPnRysL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
Popular cardio workouts can receive an estimated effort rating, which you can adjust. You can also enter effort manually for workouts without an automatic estimate. To review the trend, open Activity on Apple Watch, tap the Workload button, and use the Digital Crown to browse the comparison and workout details. See Apple’s Training Load guide.
Activity ring and pregnancy updates
You can set different Activity ring goals for different days and pause the rings while preserving an award streak. Apple’s support documentation says rings can be paused for up to 90 days. The Fitness app’s Summary tab is also customizable. To manage goals, open Activity, turn the Digital Crown to a ring, and tap Change Goals. To pause rings, open Activity, tap Weekly Summary, scroll down, and tap Pause Rings.
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When a pregnancy is logged in Health on iPhone or iPad, Cycle Tracking on Apple Watch can show gestational age and let users log pregnancy-related symptoms. Health may also prompt users to review settings such as the high-heart-rate notification threshold. These are tracking and settings features, not medical guidance.
Smart Stack, communication, and personalization
Smart Stack and Check In
The Smart Stack can suggest widgets based on context such as time, date, location, routines, and bedtime. It also supports Live Activities and interactive widgets, and can surface Translate while traveling where another language is spoken. These contextual suggestions should not be confused with a claim that every Smart Stack feature is Apple Intelligence.
Check In comes to Apple Watch through Messages, workout controls, and the Smart Stack. You can arrange for a contact to be notified when you reach a destination, after a set amount of time, or when a workout ends. See Apple’s watchOS 11 release notes for the feature details.
Rank #3
![Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Starlight Aluminum Case with Starlight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31YiTby0pOL._SL160_.jpg)
- GET SMARTER HEALTH INSIGHTS—Apple Watch SE 3 is an advanced health tracker that helps you better understand your body. The smartwatch sends alerts for an irregular heart rhythm, or an unusually high or low heart rate.* You can view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app,* track your sleep score, and get sleep apnea notifications.*
- A GREAT FITNESS TRACKER—SE 3 can track your workouts in a healthy number of ways—from running and strength training to simply achieving your 10K steps a day. With real-time metrics and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone,* you’ll hit your goals like never before.
- KEEP HELP CLOSE AT HAND—SE 3 is a smartwatch that can detect a hard fall or severe car crash and automatically help connect you to emergency services and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- WOMEN’S HEALTH INSIGHTS—SE 3 has advanced sensors that track your wrist temperature while you sleep. With this smartwatch, you can log your periods and symptoms, get period predictions, and get notified of cycle deviations.*
- GREAT BATTERY LIFE AND FASTER CHARGING—Enjoy a smartwatch with all-day, 18-hour battery life* from sunup to sundown. Then charge up to twice as fast as SE 2* and get up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes.*
Translate
The Translate app can translate dictated phrases and play translations aloud. Apple listed support for 20 languages at launch, with pronunciation assistance using the Latin alphabet for Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Downloaded languages allow offline translation on Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2; do not assume offline translation is available on every compatible watch.
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New watch faces and Double Tap
watchOS 11 adds the Photos, Flux, and Reflections faces. Photos uses machine learning to select and compose images; Flux uses animated typography and color; Reflections has a shimmering, metallic sunburst effect that responds to wrist movement. Apple highlighted the larger display and 1Hz refresh behavior of Series 10 when describing the new faces.
On Apple Watch Series 9 and later and Apple Watch Ultra 2, Double Tap can scroll through apps including Messages, Mail, and Weather. Apple lists this model restriction in its release notes.
Outdoor and workout improvements
Tides and Maps
The Tides app shows rolling tide forecasts, high and low tide times, tide height and direction, sunrise and sunset information, nearby beach maps, and tide complications. Apple’s release notes state that its coverage includes more than 115,000 beaches and 5,000 surf spots worldwide; those are Apple’s stated database figures, not a guarantee of identical data quality everywhere.
Maps adds hiking coverage for U.S. national parks. You can create custom walking or hiking routes in Maps on iPhone, save them to Apple Watch, and use turn-by-turn guidance offline. Create or download a route on the iPhone first.
Rank #4
![Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31Gq8SToFJL._SL160_.jpg)
- GET SMARTER HEALTH INSIGHTS—Apple Watch SE 3 is an advanced health tracker that helps you better understand your body. The smartwatch sends alerts for an irregular heart rhythm, or an unusually high or low heart rate.* You can view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app,* track your sleep score, and get sleep apnea notifications.*
- A GREAT FITNESS TRACKER—SE 3 can track your workouts in a healthy number of ways—from running and strength training to simply achieving your 10K steps a day. With real-time metrics and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone,* you’ll hit your goals like never before.
- KEEP HELP CLOSE AT HAND—SE 3 is a smartwatch that can detect a hard fall or severe car crash and automatically help connect you to emergency services and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- WOMEN’S HEALTH INSIGHTS—SE 3 has advanced sensors that track your wrist temperature while you sleep. With this smartwatch, you can log your periods and symptoms, get period predictions, and get notified of cycle deviations.*
- GREAT BATTERY LIFE AND FASTER CHARGING—Enjoy a smartwatch with all-day, 18-hour battery life* from sunup to sundown. Then charge up to twice as fast as SE 2* and get up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes.*
Workout app updates
The Workout app adds distance tracking for more activity types, including soccer, American football, Australian football, outdoor hockey, lacrosse, skiing, snowboarding, golf, and outdoor rowing. It also expands route maps for outdoor workouts and adds custom pool-swimming workouts with work and recovery sets. An Up Next view shows the remaining time in the current interval and previews the next one. These are additions to Apple’s Workout app, not a replacement for specialist training platforms.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to check for and install watchOS 11
If you are deciding whether to install watchOS 11 on a compatible device, first make sure the paired iPhone meets the requirement and that your watch has enough charge and a stable connection. Apple’s release and support pages list the requirements and feature availability.
- On Apple Watch, open Settings, then General, then Software Update. Alternatively, open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to General, then Software Update.
- If the update is offered and you want to install it, follow the on-screen prompts.
- Keep the watch on its charger and near the paired iPhone while the update completes.
- Afterward, check the software version under Settings, then General, then About on the watch.
Because watchOS 11 is an older release, a device that can run it may be offered a newer compatible watchOS version instead. Check Apple’s security releases and watchOS 11 update information to confirm current release status and version details.
Is watchOS 11 still current?
No. As of August 10, 2026, Apple’s current major release branch is watchOS 26, with watchOS 26.6 listed as the latest version, released July 27, 2026. Apple lists watchOS 11.6.2 as the latest update in the watchOS 11 branch. Check Apple’s security releases for current version information.
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When did watchOS 11 come out?
Apple made watchOS 11 available on September 16, 2024.
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![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41s72HIk5TL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
Which Apple Watch models can install watchOS 11?
Apple Watch Series 6 and later, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and all Apple Watch Ultra models are compatible. The paired iPhone must be an iPhone XS or later running iOS 18 or later.
Does every watchOS 11-compatible watch get sleep-apnea notifications?
No. At launch, Apple limited sleep-apnea notifications to Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2, and the feature is subject to other requirements and regional availability.
Does a sleep-apnea notification diagnose the condition?
No. Apple says the feature is not a diagnostic tool. A notification may indicate signs that warrant discussion with a healthcare provider; no notification does not rule out sleep apnea.
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Downloaded languages support offline translation on Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Apple’s launch information does not extend that offline capability to every compatible model.
Is watchOS 11 Apple’s latest watchOS?
No. As of August 10, 2026, Apple’s current major release branch is watchOS 26. Consult Apple’s release listings for the latest version available to your specific watch.
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