The next version of the Apple Watch could have a significant boost in speed and battery performance after news broke that it would likely get a new A15 Bionic-based processor in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14.

Liquor analyst Mark Gurman made the prediction, spotted by MacRumors, in a conversation on a Discord channel he hosts for subscribers. He began by saying that the Apple Watch Series 9 will get a “new processor” and clarified that this means a truly new component, as opposed to simply renamed chips that Apple has included in the last two generations of its smartwatches.

Both the Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra have an S8 chip, while the Series 7 has an S7, but these chips are functionally the same as the S6 in the 2020 Apple Watch Series 6.

Asked if the new S9 chip (assuming Apple follows the same naming convention) will be based on the A15, Gurman replied, “Yes, I think so!” The A15 is only a year newer than the S6 and was first used in the iPhone 13 series in 2021 before reappearing in various other devices, including the non-professional iPhone 14 released in fall 2022. Apple watch.

While the S6, S7, and S8 are essentially the same chip, based on the A13 and equipped with a 1.8GHz dual-core processor, the A15 has four power-efficient 2.01GHz cores and two high-performance cores as standard. with a frequency of 3.24 GHz. . The A15 far outperformed the A13 in benchmarks, delivering around 30% better performance in benchmarks.

But the new chip’s value goes beyond the obvious attributes of sheer speed (which may be more useful than you might think as developers use new hardware capabilities to build more demanding applications). The iPhone 13 with the A15 chip saw an impressive 2+ hour battery life improvement over the iPhone 12 and a significant generation leap at the time. The Apple Watch has been rated for 18 hours of battery life since its debut in 2015, barely enough for a full day with sleep tracking.

Battery performance is one of the Apple Watch’s key metrics, especially as the company pushes ahead with sleep tracking and encourages wearers to wear their watch at night. Once charging becomes a chore, you need to find time for it during the day, it becomes more attractive to boast of multi-day battery life, as Apple did for Ultra. Whether the Series 9’s performance boost will be enough to boast something approaching the Ultra’s claimed 36 hours (or the 72.5 hours it lasted in our tests) remains to be seen.

In practice, it would seem that there is a good reason why Apple places less emphasis on speed gains for its smartwatches than it does for its phones. Watch apps aren’t as demanding as phone apps, and raw performance is simply less of a priority on the smaller screen. Fewer people play games on their smartwatches, and those who do are less likely to play something particularly resource intensive. Speed, or lack thereof, is rarely an issue or a priority for smartwatch owners.

Indeed, it will be several more months before we know whether the prediction itself is correct. The Gourmet has a great reputation, but he’s certainly not infallible. For the latest news and rumors, bookmark our regularly updated Apple Watch Series 9 super guide.