Apple is reportedly exploring a screenless wearable as part of a broader rethink of its Apple Watch lineup, potentially putting the company more directly against fitness trackers from Whoop, Google, and Garmin. The concept is one of several designs under consideration, with no confirmed product or launch date.
A screenless device would mark a departure from Apple’s smartwatch model by shifting attention away from apps and notifications toward passive health and fitness tracking. The category has expanded in 2026, with Google and Garmin both launching screen-free bands while Whoop remains one of its best-known players.
Apple weighs new wearable designs
Apple’s industrial design team is evaluating devices without displays alongside other potential changes to its wearable lineup, according to reporting based on Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Other concepts reportedly include different display shapes and sizes, additional price tiers, and a circular watch design, but Apple has not committed to releasing any of them.
The exploration comes as Apple continues expanding the software capabilities of its existing smartwatch. The watchOS 27 public beta adds new Siri AI features to supported Apple Watch models, underscoring how different a display-free device would be from Apple’s current approach.
Key details about the screenless concept remain unknown. Apple has not announced which sensors it could use, how it would integrate with the iPhone or Health app, what it might cost, or whether it would require a subscription.
Screen-free rivals raise the stakes
Whoop provides the clearest comparison for a display-free Apple wearable. WHOOP 5.0 focuses on metrics such as sleep, strain, and recovery without a screen and offers more than 14 days of advertised battery life. Whoop is also exploring additional health capabilities, including a wrist-based glucose patent application, though it has not announced a glucose-monitoring product.
Google entered the category on May 7 with the Fitbit Air, a screenless tracker starting at $99.99. Google advertises up to a week of battery life and continuous health and fitness tracking, while Fitbit Air’s screenless design puts more of the experience in the Google Health app.
Garmin followed on July 21 with the CIRQA Smart Band, its first screen-free smart band. CIRQA offers up to 10 days of advertised battery life and provides health and fitness tracking through Garmin Connect without requiring a subscription for core features.
The three rivals present Apple with different business models. Whoop centers on memberships, Fitbit pairs lower-cost hardware with optional premium services, and Garmin provides its core metrics without a required subscription. Apple’s eventual pricing and services strategy could determine whether a screenless device complements the Apple Watch or serves as a lower-cost entry into its health ecosystem.
Apple’s HealthKit framework already provides a central repository for health and fitness data on iPhone and Apple Watch under user-controlled permissions. A screenless wearable could potentially feed into that system, but Apple has not confirmed its software or data architecture.
Apple’s exploration comes as screenless tracking expands from a category closely associated with Whoop to one backed by Google and Garmin. If Apple follows, competition could increasingly center on battery life, health-data integration, subscriptions, and how much of the wearable experience users actually need on their wrists.
Read more: Apple and Samsung are also competing to make wearable health data more useful through AI, widening the contest beyond sensors and hardware alone.