Apple Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4 likely without Touch ID, Vision Pro 2 in 2028
According to a new tip from a prominent Chinese leaker, Apple is prioritizing larger batteries and more advanced health sensors over Touch ID fingerprint authentication for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4. Furthermore, a new report suggests that the Apple Vision Pro 2 headset won’t be released for at least two years.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4 likely without Touch ID
In a new Weibo post, tipster Instant Digital dismissed recent speculation about the introduction of biometric authentication in the Apple Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4, claiming instead that the company remains content to allow users to unlock their devices via their paired iPhone.
Integrating Touch ID sensors into the Apple Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4 would incur additional costs and take up valuable internal space that could otherwise be used for battery capacity. Apple is apparently not willing to make this compromise at this time, according to the source.
Last August, lines of code surfaced in watchOS suggesting that Touch ID might be included in the Apple Watch Series 12 or the Watch Ultra 4. This discovery led to speculation that Apple might place the Touch ID sensor under the display or possibly integrate it into the side button, similar to the implementation in the iPad mini and iPad Air.
Currently, no major design changes are expected for the 2026 Apple Watch models, and a design update is unlikely before 2028. At that time, Apple could introduce non-invasive blood glucose monitoring technology with the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Watch Ultra 4, although this technology is currently still in the early stages of development.
Apple Vision Pro 2 won’t arrive for at least two years
Apple hasn’t completely abandoned the Vision Pro headset. However, according to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, anyone hoping for the Apple Vision Pro 2 will have to wait at least another two years.
In his latest newsletter, “Power On,” Gurman refuted the suggestion that Apple had completely abandoned the headset project. The well-informed journalist explained that the company continues to develop new technologies and materials behind the scenes with the goal of eventually bringing a cheaper and lighter closed-back headset to market. However, such a product is apparently not in active development, and the long-rumored “Vision Air” was discontinued last year.
Should the Apple Vision Pro 2 actually come to market, Gurman does not expect it to be for “at least two years” because most of Apple’s hardware experts in the field of Mixed Reality have been reassigned to other projects such as lightweight smart glasses.
In fact, the focus is now on Apple’s smart glasses project, and former members of the Vision Products Group have been assigned to this team. Furthermore, development of the Siri chatbot is being accelerated, not to mention other AI wearables such as AirPods with cameras and a planned AI pendant.
The bumpy sales launch of the Vision Pro was recently covered in detail in a book by New York Times journalist Noam Scheiber, who argues that Apple’s decades-long reduction of retail jobs directly contributed to the disappointing sales launch of the $3,499 headset.
The last hardware upgrade came in October 2025 with the updated Apple Vision Pro M5.
