If you’re an Apple Watch fan, today was your day to be happy.
Over at its “Far Out” media event, Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 8. The new units feature a similar design to the Apple Watch Series 7, albeit with a larger display that curves around the edges as well as a new body temperature sensor.
The Series 8, however, includes an all-new body temperature sensor with a focus on women’s health. The new sensor in the Series 8 reads wrist temperature every five seconds overnight, sensing shifts from baseline temperature and alerting the user through the Health app. The body temperature sensor enables retrospective ovulation estimates and estimates of cycle deviation.
The new sensor joins the standard heart rate sensor as well as the ECG to offer a suite of health features. Another new feature in the Series 8 is car crash detection, which can automatically connect you with emergency services, provide location, and notify emergency contacts in the unfortunate event of a severe car crash. To enable this, the Series 8 features a new 3-axis gyroscope and high g-force accelerometer that measures up to 256G, sampling 4x faster (3000 times per second).
Other new improvements include boosts to battery life, Apple promising the same all-day 18-hour battery life found in previous models. To help extend battery life, the Series 4 and later will include a new Low Power Mode that limits some functionality, such as an always-on display and workout detection. With Low Power Mode enabled, users can extend Apple Watch battery life by up to 36 hours.
The Apple Watch Series 8 is available for pre-order and will debut on Friday, September 16. The Series 8 starts at $399 for GPS and $499 for cellular. It’s available in aluminum Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Product(Red). For the stainless steel, it will come in Silver, Gold, and Graphite.
The other major news was the announcement of the new Apple Watch Ultra, which functions as a feature-rich smartwatch for athletes and explorers. The new unit incorporates an all-new design, a large flat sapphire crystal display, an additional programmable Action button, and cellular as standard functionality.
The 49mm titanium case offers the brightest Apple Watch display yet at 2,000 nits, and is twice as bright as previous models, while a larger Digital Crown is more rugged and capable. The unit offers 36 hours of battery lift, which can be extended to 60 hours with a new low-power battery optimization setting coming later this fall. Apple says the Apple Watch Ultra has enough battery life for most users to complete a long-course triathlon, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and full marathon at 26.2 miles.
A new Action button in high-contract international orange can be customized for a number of features, including Workouts, Compass Waypoints, and Backtracking.
The unit now offers three built-in microphones to improve sound quality in voice calls, and new advanced wind noise-reduction algorithms to deliver clearer and intelligible audio for calls. There’s a new Dark Mode, a Wayfinder watch face with a built-in compass and space for up to eight complications. The watch also has a built-in depth gauge, and a new dual-frequency GPS with custom position algorithms to receive GPS signals in hard-to-reach locations.
Other features include a body temperature sensor, advanced cycle tracking, international roaming on cellular models, and car crash detection. watchOS 9 features will allow for advanced running metrics to measure performance, like Stride Length, Ground Contact Time, Vertical Oscillation, and Running Power, while new Workout Views, such as Segments, Splits, and Elevation, provide important metrics, which can take advantage of the larger display on the Ultra by showing up to six
The Apple Watch Ultra starts at $799 and pre-orders open today, with availability on Friday September 23.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.