Next-gen Apple Watch might come with a 15 percent larger screen

The Apple Watch could get its first design update since it launched way back in 2015.

In his latest investor note (via 9to5Mac), KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says he believes the next Apple Watches, slated for launch this fall, might come with displays that are about 15 percent larger than the current Series 3.

Apple's Series 3 smartwatches are available in 38mm (1.5-inch display) and 42mm (1.65-inch display). A fifteen percent larger screen would mean the 38mm Watch expands to 1.72 inches and the 42mm to 1.89 inches.

Kuo's report also claims the new Apple Watches could have a "more trendy form factor design" and potentially new sensors for more advanced health-tracking.

To put a larger display into the existing Apple Watch's case, the company could shrink the bezels surrounding it. It seems unlikely Apple would make the smartwatches larger, though.

Phone leaker and concept artist Benjamin Geskin quickly mocked up what the new Apple Watches could look like with larger screens:

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This is the second time we've heard of any new form factor for the Apple Watch. Last summer, Daring Fireball's John Gruber said he'd heard from a source Apple was potentially working on an "all-new form factor" for the Apple Watch. Of course, that rumor didn't come true for Series 3.

With a tweaked design and larger displays, Kuo believes Apple could sell 22-24 million Apple Watches in 2018, resulting in 30 percent growth year-over-year.

Apple Watch was slow out of the gate in 2015, but after several iterations it has become the most popular smartwatch. Smartwatches powered by Google's Wear OS (formerly called Android Wear) have all but been vanquished. Most consumer tech companies haven't released new Wear OS smartwatches in years and Google's relying on fashion brands to prop its fledgling wearable platform up.

A new design and larger screens could propel the Apple Watch further ahead of its competitors, leaving them to eat dust for good.