Code leak: Apple Watch with more biometry?

The Apple Watch currently has no specific functions for biometric identification. Users put on the clock and tap their pin. Then she is unlocked as long as it has not been removed from the wrist; Can be used or collected for Apple Pay payments, for example, and shows fitness and health data. So if you know the PIN, you can use the watch, without further physical feature like fingerprint (touch ID on iPhone, iPad, Mac) or face (Face ID on iPhone, iPad). This is not harmless, since the Apple Watch can access numerous data from the iPhone with which the computer clock is linked by default. Apparently Apple is also aware of the problem and is now planning biometry for the watch for the first time. That reports The US edition of the MacWorld.

Codename “Applemesa”

Code has appeared in the group’s internal software that suggests that the fingerprint sensor Touch ID could reach future Apple watch models, writes Code Leak expert Filipe Esposito in the message. Strings in the software therefore refer to “Applemesa” for Apple Watch models for 2026. This in turn is the internal code name for Touch ID. According to Esposito, the code is explicitly intended for internal use, accordingly the technology still seems to be in the prototype status. For example, drivers for Touch ID are not yet available for watchos.

In addition, the new models expected in September 2025 – i.e. Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3 and possibly SE 3 – would not be equipped with the technology, the report said. There are also questions of implementation. Touch ID could theoretically be installed directly on the Apple Watch screen, but Apple does not use such a fingerprint sensor in any device. Instead, this is either in a button (formerly iPhone home button, currently in the MacBook) or in an elongated button (iPad). The latter would also be suitable for the side button of the Apple Watch if the space should be enough.

Other biometric ideas

It would be smarter not to use Touch ID for the Apple Watch, but other biometric features. For example, Apple’s pulse, oxygen measurement and/or 1-channel ECG sensors could be used-these have long been in the watch and should be used for clear identification with special algorithms.

The MacWorld continues that Apple is planning a new chip generation for the 2026 computer watches-the so-called Watch8 family. Apple Watch Series 9, 10 and 11 (Plus Ultra 3) is assigned the old “Watch7” generation. The new chip is said to be faster than its predecessor, internally it is called T8320 (instead of currently T8310).