The newest Apple Watch is all about a big screen, a thinner case, and lighter metal options, allowing for better typing and easier viewing.
Apple's first wide-angle OLED display inside the Series 10 is 40 percent brighter than the Series 9. It allows for a wider variety of viewing angles. Its refresh rate, when idle, can update information from apps and complications once a second instead of the existing once-a-minute rate.
The 9.7 mm case, the thinnest Watch so far, required miniaturization of various components, including the speaker, logic board, and metal backing. The aluminum version weighs 10 percent less than the previous generation. The titanium version, replacing stainless steel, shaves even more weight off the Watch than the already reduced Series 10.
The S10 chip powering the Series 10 promises to improve speeds at responding to actions, Apple claims, and can improve noise and feedback during calls you take over the Watch's speaker. A few existing tools, like Translate, can now run natively on the Watch, and fitness features should be similarly boosted.
Leaked CAD drawings and analysts had suggested the Apple Watch Series 10 was due for major changes. That could have meant new sizes (45 mm and 49 mm), a slimmed-down case made possible by resin-coated copper boards (which did happen), or a new magnetic attachment system for wristbands, which would have saved even more space inside the case. Series 10 uses the same style of slide-in bands as prior Apple Watches, so the new band system, and new sizes, may be held off for a future update.
No new Apple Watch Ultra or Watch SE was announced. Apple Watch Ultra 2 gets a new "Satin Black" finish, new bands (including a titanium Milanese loop with a new locking mechanism), and lots of new software features that are focused on fitness. Among the dozens of fitness features added by WatchOS 11 are automatic track running detection, live activity cycling on an iPhone, stroke and interval tracking while swimming, and a compass app with latitude, longitude, altitude, and waypoints. The training system also promises more insights, however unspecified.
Both the Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2, along with the Series 9, should soon get sleep apnea detection, pending the Food and Drug Administration's approval, Apple announced.
The Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399 for a Wi-Fi model and $499 with GPS. The Watch Ultra 2 starts at $799. Both are available for pre-order now, with expected arrival on September 20.
