The Apple Watch update is getting its first real watch redesign in years. The Apple Watch Series 10 is slimmer but with a bigger screen and reduced bezels. Plus, you can get it in lighter-weight aluminum or titanium. Yes, there’s no mention of blood oxygen sensing, but instead, the Cupertino, California tech giant is enticing wearable fans with sleep apnea detection.
The flagship Apple Watch looks distinct from Series 9 (which was essentially the same look for the past three iterations). Series 10 is the “thinnest Apple watch” at 9.7 mm10% thinner than last year’s watch. Thanks to smaller bezels, it’s now sporting a larger watch face, though unlike the latest Google Pixel Watch 3, there’s only the singular watch face size.
The other big change to the design is the sloped display, which now sports a so-called “wide-angle OLED” screen. Apple says this should be 40% brighter than Series 9 when seen from an angle. The watch now comes in three colors with the aluminum chassis: anodized black, rose gold, and classic silver.
According to Apple, you still have the choice of polished titanium, though aluminum cases weigh 10% less than the premium titanium material. The watch should charge faster, with the engineers in Cupertino promising you can go from 0 to 80% in 30 minutes.
The redesign required Apple to shrink its internal modules, like speakers, though the tech giant promised you won’t hear any differences in how it sounds. The good news is that it’s still using the same band connection points as previous models, so anybody jumping from a recent-gen Apple Watch won’t have to shell out for their favorite band.
The new health sensing software includes an all-new sleep apnea detection feature. This feature will use the accelerometer to monitor users’ breathing and sleep habits over time and notify them of potential sleep apnea through the Apple Health app.
That feature is similar to what we saw with the recent Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and the new Galaxy Watch Ultra earlier this year. Samsung’s watches ask users to manually record two or more sleep cycles to detect any signs of sleep apnea, but Apple’s devices will work more in the background over a longer period. Like Samsung’s devices, the Apple Watch will only notify you of any sleep issues and advise you to go see an actual doctor.
Apple says it’s still waiting on FDA approval of that feature, though there are a few more new non-medical software features on board. The smartwatch will use watchOS 11, which will include a few more upgrades, like automatic sleep tracking. The Series 10 will also allow you to use translation features through the watch with speech recognition.
As for the Apple Watch Ultra, there’s not much changing at all. There’s no Ultra 3 in sight. While it’s getting access to the new sensing features, the biggest shakeup is the new dark shell option. Apple says this new colorway should be just as durable and scratch-resistant as the other silver titanium body.
At the very least, the sleep apnea functions are getting backdated to the Ultra 2 and the Series 9. The Ultra also has access to the new Tides app for all those sea nerds and surfers who really want to know the status of the waves at their local beach.
The Series 10 will launch at $400 for a version with GPS and $500 for one that includes cellular. The Apple Watch Series 10 will launch on Sept. 20, with pre-orders going live today.