Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 are unlikely to ship with Touch ID this fall, according to a report published today by MacRumors citing Chinese leaker "instant_digital." Apple reportedly decided the space and cost required for a fingerprint sensor wasn't worth the tradeoff, choosing instead to expand battery capacity and add unspecified health sensors. Unlocking will continue to work the same way it does today: passcode or proximity to a paired iPhone.
There's been no mention in the rumor mill of an Apple Watch with Touch ID since Macworld's Filipe Espósito found Apple developer code last August showing the company actively prototyping the capability. Now we know why: Apple chose battery and space for more sensors over Touch ID, which makes sense given that most Apple Watch owners have an iPhone nearby anyway, which handles unlocking automatically.
The Series 12 and Ultra 4 will succeed the current Series 11 and Ultra 3, which run silicon based on the same underlying architecture as the Series 9, which shipped in 2023. The new chip, internally identified as T8320, should bring genuine performance and efficiency gains that translate to longer battery life even without a larger cell.
Blood glucose monitoring, which would be the biggest health feature Apple Watch has never shipped, isn't coming either. The leaker says a major redesign and noninvasive blood sugar tracking are targeted for 2028 at the earliest. That timeline is consistent with previous reports suggesting Apple's glucose sensing technology still isn't accurate enough to meet its own quality bar, let alone FDA requirements.
The watches are expected in September alongside iPhone 18. For anyone holding out specifically for Touch ID on their wrist, 2026 isn't the year.