WatchOS 26.2 beta: How sleep scores are changing

It's about to get a little bit more difficult to ace your sleep score on the Apple Watch.

According to 9 to 5 Mac, watchOS 26.2 is updating its sleep score to be more accurate. Currently, your sleep score is based off of three categories: duration (worth 50 points), bedtime (worth 30 points), and interruptions (worth 20 points). Then, you're given one of five scores: very low (0-29), low (30-49), OK (50-69), high (70-89), or excellent (90-100). That "excellent" score will soon be no more.

Apple is changing the new sleep scores by eliminating the score "excellent" and replacing that with "very high." It is also easier to get a very low score and more difficult to get that very high score. According to 9 to 5 Mac, very low will now be 0-40 points, low will be 41-60 points, OK will be 61-80 points, high will be 81-95 points, and very high will be 96 to 100 points.

In general, I've found that the Apple Watch overestimates my quality of sleep, so I see this change as a good thing. For example, last night I slept for seven hours and 16 minutes and went to bed around 10:30, which earned me a 47/50 for duration, a 30/30 on bedtime, and a 16/20 on interruptions (I have a chatty cat). In total, that was a 93 — an "Excellent." In comparison, my WHOOP MG 4.0 gave me an 87 percent sleep performance score, based on sleep duration vs. need, consistency, efficiency, and stress.