On its 10th birthday, the Apple Watch is getting a glow-up. The new Apple Watch Series 10, announced at Apple's September event, is getting its most significant upgrade in years with a new slimmer design, a larger screen and sleep apnea detection.
With the Series 10, Apple is placing a major focus on the design and display. It's Apple's thinnest watch yet and it's also the largest display on an Apple Watch so far. Apple typically introduces design changes and new health features for the Apple Watch, but it rarely does so in the same generation. The Series 5 and Series 7, for example, introduced aesthetic changes like the always-on display and a larger screen, while the Series 6 and Series 8 debuted blood oxygen and temperature sensing respectively.
The Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399 and launches on Sept. 20.
Apple Watch Series 10 gets a new look
The Apple Watch Series 10 is all about the new display and design. Apple says there's 30% more screen area for viewing more lines of text. The company says it's the biggest wearable display it's ever built, making it even slightly bigger than the Apple Watch Ultra, which also got a new black finish for the Apple Watch Ultra 2 at the event. Since people often glance down at their watch rather than looking at it straight on, Apple made the display 40% brighter when viewed at an angle.
The watch also comes in a new polished aluminum finish developed specifically for the Series 10, which will be available in a new black color along with rose gold and silver aluminum. There's a new titanium finish as well that weighs 20% less than the previous stainless steel version.
Watch this: Apple Debuts Apple Watch Series 10
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The Apple Watch Series 10 is 9.7 millimeters thin, making it nearly 10% thinner than the Series 9. Apple made several design changes to achieve this slimmer profile, including reducing the speaker system -- making it 30% smaller -- and adding a new metal back that integrates the antenna into the housing to eliminate a layer.
That new back also means the watch charges faster, the company says. Apple says it achieves an 80% charge in 30 minutes, similar to the Pixel Watch 3.
The watch is powered by a new chip called the S10. Apple is also focusing on audio with the Series 10, as it's touting clearer phone calls and the ability to play music out loud on the watch.
Health is always a major area of focus for the Apple Watch, and that's no different this year. Sleep apnea detection is coming to the watch through a new metric that can pick up potential breathing disturbances overnight. You'll be able to view nightly values in the health app, and the Apple Watch will analyze your breathing disturbances every 30 days and notify you if it finds consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea. Apple says it expects FDA clearance for the feature soon.
The announcement comes after Samsung introduced sleep apnea detection to its smartwatches earlier this year, further underscoring how smartwatches are becoming powerful health-tracking devices.
The new Apple Watch also has a built-in depth gauge and water temperature sensor for water-related sports and activities.
The watch's debut comes exactly a decade after Apple revealed the first Apple Watch on Sept. 9, 2014. What started as a niche accessory 10 years ago has grown into a major product category for Apple. The company's wearables, home and accessories business, which includes the Apple Watch and AirPods among other gadgets, is larger than both the iPad and Mac divisions.
Apple was also the top wearable device maker in terms of shipments in the first quarter of 2024, according to the International Data Corporation.
The 10th-gen model feels like a major departure from last year's watch, building on all of the areas Apple has been steadily refining over the watch's lifetime, such as health, design and activity tracking. Apple also has more competition than ever, including from new types of health trackers like Samsung's Galaxy Ring. We'll know more once we've had time to try it.
Watch this: Apple Debuts Apple Watch Series 10
04:12