The Apple Watch won’t get additional biometric security measures anytime soon, because it’s an engineering nightmare.
As with other Apple products, security measures are in place on the Apple Watch to ensure that only its owner can use it. However, even though this is one of the few Apple products that doesn’t include biometric security, it will be this way for a long time.
In a post Monday on Weibo, serial leaker Instant Digital dismisses apparent rumors that Apple is bringing some form of biometric security to the Apple Watch as pure speculation.
According to the leaker, Apple’s current strategy is still to allow users to unlock devices using a link to their iPhone. He currently has no plans to add such a thing to the Apple Watch.
Currently, the Apple Watch relies on users entering a PIN to unlock the device while on their wrist or using Touch ID on a linked iPhone. The Apple Watch remains unlocked as long as it detects that it is still on the user’s wrist and automatically locks when removed.
Instant Digital doesn’t specify what leaks they’re talking about, but there was an apparent code leak in August 2025, hinting at testing Touch ID on the Apple Watch. At the time, this was thought to be an internal-only software release, indicating that it was a prototyping and experimentation phase.
Obvious, but there are options
The leaker justifies his point of view by insisting that Apple prefers to maximize the battery and include more advanced health sensors instead. Adding more sensors for fingerprint readers would only increase the build cost and reduce battery space.
That’s a pretty obvious conclusion to draw, considering how compact the Apple Watch, or frankly any modern mobile device, really is.
Any teardown of the Apple Watch will show how dense each wearable is, with minimal room for additional items. Adding a large component, such as a fingerprint reader, would mean less space for the battery cell to consume, without further miniaturizing everything else inside the case.
Apple executives have previously talked about the small size putting constraints on what can be included in the design and what information can be displayed to the user on the screen. Increasing the size of the screen, and the Apple Watch as a whole, is also not a real possibility since it needs to be wearable all day.
That said, Apple has considered the possibility of adding another form of biometrics to the Apple Watch, at least in patents. In 2020, this took the form of vein mapping, so the Apple Watch could know how the hand is moving for gesture recognition purposes.
Although more intended for contactless gestures, Apple has also thought about using the veins for biometric purposes, notably for Face ID. It wouldn’t be a huge stretch of the imagination to use a wrist’s veins instead.
For now, Apple Watch users will still need to enter their PIN or have their unlocked iPhone nearby.