Your standard Apple Watch could finally borrow the Ultra's best-looking feature

If you have ever eyed the Apple Watch Ultra's Modular Ultra face and wished a version of it lived on your regular Apple Watch, Apple may finally be reading the room. A new watch face in testing for watchOS 27 borrows the Ultra's signature look, just toned down for everyday wrists.

What Apple is testing in watchOS 27

Bloomberg's lead Apple reporter Mark Gurman, in his latest Power On newsletter, revealed that Apple is testing a simplified take on the Modular Ultra design for this year's watchOS update. The new face keeps the same large clock filling the top two-thirds of the display, paired with a single row of three smaller complications underneath.

What it ditches is just as important. The center complication is gone, the row of three smaller complications above the time has been removed, and the information that wraps around the bezel on the Ultra version is also missing.

How it differs from the Ultra version

Modular Ultra, in its current form, packs in everything: a big clock, a bezel ring of live data, three small complications up top, and a large complication front and center. It is dense, deliberate, and very much built for Apple Watch Ultra users.

The new variant keeps the visual DNA but trims the data. You get the bold Ultra aesthetic without the information overload, which makes it a much better fit for the smaller displays on the standard Series lineup.

Why this matters for regular Apple Watch users

For years, watch face exclusivity has been one of the quiet frustrations on the regular Apple Watch. Faces like Wayfinder and the original Modular Ultra are locked to the Ultra, even though plenty of Series owners would happily use them.

A simplified Modular Ultra opens that door without forcing anyone to buy the priciest model. It also fits with what we already expect from watchOS 27, which is shaping up to focus on AI features and software polish, as we covered in our earlier breakdown of what's coming.

When you can expect it to launch

watchOS 27, code-named Orchid, will be unveiled at WWDC in June, with the public release typically following alongside new Apple Watch hardware in the fall. Before that, Apple is rolling out its annual Pride watch face, this year called Pride Luminance, as part of watchOS 26.5 later this month, the same cycle that kicked off when Apple shipped watchOS 26 last fall.

A smart way to make the Series feel more premium

Bringing Ultra-style design to the regular Apple Watch is a low-cost, high-impact move. It does not change the hardware, but it makes the Apple Watch Series 11 feel a little closer to its rugged sibling, something that is hard to pull off without a price hike.

If Apple keeps trickling down Ultra design language like this, the gap between Series and Ultra starts to feel less like a wall and more like a feature checklist. That is a win for anyone who wants the look without the $799 price tag.

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