A constant since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015 has been the requirement that each Watch be paired with a single iPhone. (These days, each iPhone can pair with multiple watches at once, but each watch only needs to pair with one iPhone at a time.) Potential Apple Watch buyers may have a house full of Macs and iPads, but if they’re using an Android handset in instead of an iPhone, they’ve been out of luck… until now.
On Thursday the prolific leaker @ analyst941 (who also uses Anonymous-AS on the MacRumors forums) posted the claim that the Apple Watch “can finally sync with more than one Apple device too”, adding that this applies to iPads and Macs as well as iPhones .
There are, however, some caveats to note here. The first is that the timing hasn’t been confirmed: the leaker says they’re “hoping it actually comes this year,” but mentions next year as another possibility. They also admit that they “don’t know how this will be implemented.” Will there be new Watch apps for iPadOS and macOS? Will a Mac or iPad be able to set up an Apple Watch, or only sync to it afterwards, as a secondary companion on top of the iPhone? If it’s the latter, Android users still won’t be caught up – which might suit Apple’s purposes, given the value of gatekeeper devices like the Apple Watch and AirPods in keeping customers within the iPhone’s walled garden .
Incidentally, we should probably add that the idea as a whole should be regarded as unconfirmed, as the leaker’s own track record remains distinctly thin. @analyst941 is a press darling right now, with varying forecasts appearing across the gamut of tech media over the past few months, but so far they have only one demonstrably correct forecast to point to, having soon accurately published a described the privacy feature of Dynamic Island before the iPhone 14 Pro was announced.
Timing caveats aside, @analyst941 faces a major reckoning at WWDC on June 5th. Is a promising leaky career about to blossom, or is it going wrong? Prosstradamus proved that you can get things wrong and keep leaking, but it’s hard to come back after getting many specific things wrong at once. Buckle up, folks: It’s almost time for crunches.
For all the latest news and rumors related to this year’s Apple Watch software updates, check out our regularly updated watchOS 10 super guide.
