Apple Watch Series 3 to Be Discontinued This Year as Its Hardware May Not Keep up With the Latest macOS Update

The Apple Watch Series 3 was announced back in 2017, and after five years, it could be on its way out, according to a famous analyst. His reasoning has more to do with the new macOS being too much for the wearable to handle, but there could be other reasons behind this potential discontinuation.

Three Apple Watch Models Rumored to Launch Later This Year, Negating the Need for a Model That Launched Back in 2017

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the Apple Watch Series 3 will be discontinued in the third quarter of this year. End-of-life or the EOL term mentioned in his tweet suggests that this model will no longer be sold after the aforementioned quarter and will not be eligible to receive future software updates, including the upcoming one, which will likely be called watchOS 9.

Kuo believes that the next watchOS update will be too overwhelming for the Apple Watch Series 3 as its current hardware will not be able to keep up with the update’s requirements. It goes without saying that a device introduced five years ago will already be struggling to run the current operating system due to the dated hardware. However, another reason for its discontinuation is that with more models expected to be added, it makes little sense to continue producing a wearable that will be half a decade old.

Apple Watch Series 3 may go to end-of-life (EOL) in 3Q22 because the computing power can’t meet the requirements of the new watchOS.

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 21, 2022

Rumors claim that Apple intends on launching three wearables this year, which will include the flagship named the Apple Watch Series 8, followed by the second-generation Apple Watch SE, and a rugged sports version of the Apple Watch. With an extensive lineup expected to be added in the coming months, it makes no sense to continue selling the Apple Watch Series 3, especially when the second-generation Apple Watch SE would provide more value and possibly more features for a competitive price.

As for watchOS 9, it will be previewed at Apple’s upcoming WWDC 2022 keynote, and we will find out if it is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 3, so stay tuned.