It’s Apple’s big day, and alongside the all-new iPhone 15 range (which, for the first time, features a USB-C port), the company has revealed the Apple Watch Series 9, the newest mainline model in the smartwatch family.
Let’s take a dive in and see what’s new.
Apple Watch Series 9
While the Apple Watch Series 9 has no big feature changes over the Series 8, there are some important changes to make note of. Perhaps the big changes are being reserved for the Apple Watch X next year.
Powering the new Apple Watch 9 is the S9 watch chip. It contains 5.6 billion transistors, a 4-core neutral engine, and is powered by a a faster GPU with an all-day 18-hour battery life. Siri has also been moved on-device for faster processing, and the virtual assistant can now access your health data
For example, you can ask Siri how much sleep you got last night, or what your blood-oxygen level is.
The brightness of the screen has been bumped up to a maximum of 2,000 nits (double on last year’s model), and can be lowered to 1 nit.
You’re also able to control the Apple Watch Series 9 with gestures, such as raising your wrist for the screen to brighten. By tapping your index finger and thumb twice (on the wrist the Watch is on), you can answer a call, hang up, or scroll through the phone.
On-board is a new ultra-wideband chip, so that it’s easier to find your iPhone with a Watch-activated alert.
There’s also a pink colour option, which is just gorgeous.
Aside from pink; Starlight, silver, midnight, and PRODUCT(RED) will be colour options, along with stainless steel silver, gold, and graphite.
Apple has also introduced a completely new fabric – FineWoven – which it’s making available as a band for the Series 9.
It’s also Apple’s first-ever carbon-neutral product.
WatchOS 10
Indeed, the biggest change for the Apple Watch this year is the operating system. This year, Apple has performed comprehensive app redesigns across the OS, with advanced screens and data for cyclists, and greater mental and visual health insights. Apple reckons it’s “the biggest update since the introduction of the Apple Watch”. There are also smart-stacked Watch apps, with the side button now activating Control Centre from any screen, and all-new watch faces (including some Snoopy ones!).
For cyclists, specific power zones across your daily cycling route are now indicated. A new speedometer has been created, that shows you your average speed, current speed, maximum speed, distance travelled and your current heart rate.
Hiking has also received some love with WatchOS 10 – the Compass app now provides new views, waypoints for when you last had cellular connectivity, and elevation indicators. You can also easily find nearby trails, with information on length, time, elevation, and difficulty provided. There are also now topographic maps and you can now be alerted when you’ve passed an elevation threshold.
As for mental and visual health, you can now log how you’re feeling mentally in the health app, to help you correlate lifestyle factors with your activities. For vision health, you’ll now be offered a time in daylight record.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a whole other beast.
Apple Watch Series 9 Australian pricing and availability
The Apple Watch Series 9 starts at $649 in Australia, though there are several customisation options available. Preorders are live from today, and will be available from September 22.
- Apple Watch Series 9 41mm GPS: $649
- Apple Watch Series 9 45mm GPS: $699
- Apple Watch Series 9 41mm GPS + Cellular: $809
- Apple Watch Series 9 45mm GPS + Cellular: $859
- Apple Watch Series 9 41mm Stainless Steel: $1,199
- Apple Watch Series 9 45mm Stainless Steel: $1,279.
At its 2023 iPhone event, Apple unveiled the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, USB-C for the AirPods Pro 2, Roadside Assistance via Satellite, and a bunch of environmental promises. This article has been updated since it was first published.
Image: Apple