There was always going to be a new Apple Watch, and the Watch Series 10 is predictably the most advanced wristwear from the company without an ‘Ultra’ appended to the end of it. The company announced a batch of visual and construction upgrades, as well as improved medical capability and software upgrades.
Some of the latter, conferred by WatchOS 11, will bring new features to both the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Watch Ultra 2. If you recently caved in to a new Apple wearable, you won’t need to jump up to Series 10 right away—unless you really want to.
Metal compilation
Internally, Series 10 adds custom Apple Silicon internals to facilitate Apple Intelligence features to the company’s wristwear. Improved crash and fall detection, a feature that has been around for some time, is facilitated by machine learning functions (we’re told — we’ll crash a car while wearing one just as soon as we can). It also cleans up background noise when using the Watch 10 for calls, yet another feature we’re pretty sure didn’t really need the Apple Intelligence appellation.
You’re more likely to notice the larger wide-angle OLED display Apple is watching around. The basic stats: a 30% larger display with a 40% brighter screen when viewed from acute angles. Apple is bragging about more power efficiency facilitated by the screen but it’s used this to update the screen once a second and not to extend the battery life. It’ll still need charging daily. At least this is faster, since the Series 10 will take 30 minutes to reach 80%. Maybe you’ll actually be able to sleep while wearing your Watch.
Finish him
Apple is bringing new colours to market with the Series too — well, one new colour. There’s also a new material, but we’ll get to that. Jet Black, Rose Gold, and Silver are your colour options and Apple is very fond of how its aluminium alloy chassis gets these hues. They’re blasted with silicon nanoparticles and then sent through an extensive anodising process. Usually, it’s Chinese companies bragging about these finishes. It’s nice to see the Americans get involved.
The Series 10 is Apple’s thinnest Watch to date. 9.7mm is pretty thin for a smartwatch, an achievement brought on by improved miniaturisation of many internals including the speaker array. The metal backplate incorporates more components too, including the antennae. 5ATM water resistance sticks around and users can also use the Watch Series 10 to listen to music and podcasts. Just what we need — more publically-playing speakers. That won’t get irritating at all.
You’re unlikely to argue much, though. The Series 10 emitting the latest Juggalo-themed polka album might be crafted from titanium, which replaces the stainless steel finish. Apple’s got Natural, Gold, and Slate Grey options, with matching bands.
The big sleep
The big software update coming to the Series 10 (and the Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2, eventually) is sleep apnea tracking. Apple’s wristwear can notify you, similar to how it detects heartbeat anomalies, that you should see a doctor because you’re not breathing while you sleep. You should get that checked out.
When the feature launches it’ll turn up in 150 countries. South Africa is likely to be one of those, though there’s no exact date when this goes live.
Also coming? Water-centric apps, so you don’t need to sell that kidney to purchase an Ultra. But if you do want one, Apple’s announced a new Satin Black Ultra 2. Yup. That’s about it from its headline Watch for September. Oh well.
The Watch Series 10 launches overseas on 20 September. The starting price is about R7,200 ($400) but those pesky Americans never include tax. Or import fees. If local patterns hold, the device(s) will show up here about a week after the Americans get to play. Prices… will be announced later.
