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Comment by thewebguyd | Hacker News Reader

In case anyone missed it, Apple's dropping support for Watch Series 6/7/8/9 and the Ultra 1 with this release.

The 9 isn't even 3 years old yet until September, absolutely garbage support timeline for a wearable. I have a Series 9, and it's still essentially like new.

edit Seems this was an error on Apple's part, all watches that support 26 should get 27

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Yeah, I'm shocked at this [1]. The Series 9 was released in September 2023, not quite 3 years old. Apple is normally very good with long-term support. This is surprising to say the least. I bought a 10 last year when it was current-gen and it's going to be the minimum supported Watch with the next version of Watch OS? WTF? At least I'm glad I did that rather than repalcing a battery on an even older Watch.

iPads aren't free from this either but it's a little less severe [2]. For example, iPad Air 4th gen will be the minimum iPad Air and it was released in 2020. The M1 iPad Pro was released in 2021 and will be the minimum there.

[1]: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/08/watchos-27-drops-suppor...

j2]: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/08/ipados-27-drops-support...

Apple updated their compatibility list. The Series 9 is compatible with WatchOS 27 [1]. Still, Series 8 was released in 2022. Less than 4 years old and incompatible? That's quite a departrue from Apple's long-compatibility.

[1]: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/08/apple-watch-series-9-mi...

My Series 6 offers me to download the watchOS 27 developer beta, so it seems like someone messed up

They did that before with betas, only to limit the final release.

Did it install?

No :(

Wait what? Where did you see this? It would be crazy if the Series 9 doesn't get updated to the next watchOS

On their WatchOS page, about halfway down: https://www.apple.com/os/watchos/

Has to be a fuckup. watchOS 26 supported the Series 6 onwards. I don't think Apple has ever cut 3 generations of devices with a single yearly OS upgrade unless there's an underlying architecture reason for it before.

This might be the list for Siri AI supported watches or something.

Seems you are correct, the beta is now showing available on my Series 9 at least.

wow this blows. do they ever like release an OS for older machines at a later date?

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