Apple seeded a separate watchOS 27 beta exclusively for the Apple Watch Ultra 3, two days after the Ultra 3 was notably absent from the second developer beta released to all other compatible Apple Watch models. The quick turnaround and same-day corrective release suggest the company identified a compatibility issue that required isolation and immediate deployment.
The Ultra 3’s omission from beta 2 marked an unusual stumble for Apple’s most expensive wearable, priced at $799. Developer betas typically include all supported hardware simultaneously. A separate beta release for a single device model is rare, making the sequence a notable exception to Apple’s standard testing approach.
What beta 2 includes
The broader watchOS 27 beta 2 continues refining features introduced in the first beta, with the Dynamic App Grid representing the most visible user-facing change. The grid displays five apps based on user context and usage patterns, with Siri positioned centrally. Liquid Glass has been updated for improved legibility, Workout Buddy now offers enhanced offline functionality with new progressive metrics, and a unified Find My app adds Precision Finding support.
The headline Siri AI feature, which Apple positioned as the centerpiece of watchOS 27 during WWDC 2026, remains inactive across all betas. Apple has indicated the functionality will arrive later in 2026 and will require a paired Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, specifically iPhone 15 Pro or later, to operate. Developers cannot yet test the conversational Siri capabilities or personal data access that form the core justification for the OS’s aggressive hardware requirements.
watchOS 27 represents the steepest single-cycle device support cutoff in Apple Watch history, dropping the Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, SE 2, and original Ultra. Apple has explained that performance requirements for Siri AI and new tap gesture functionality necessitate S9 or S10 chips, available in the Series 9 and later, Ultra 2 and later, and SE 3. The Ultra 3’s exclusion from beta testing now raises questions about whether even the newest hardware is fully ready for those same requirements.
Siri AI remains unavailable in beta at this stage, combined with the Ultra 3’s absence from the second release, underscores how incomplete watchOS 27 still feels despite being just months away from a public launch. Developers were expecting to evaluate the system’s flagship feature by now, and instead they are testing an OS that still lacks its primary selling point.
