The Apple Watch Series 10 has arrived, announced at the iPhone 16 “Glowtime” event on September 9, and it looks in some respects like the best Apple Watch yet.
Having already seen the watchOS 11 announcement at WWDC 2024, we had a pretty good idea of what direction the latest Apple Watch is heading in, and Series 10 didn’t disappoint. With the biggest, widest display on an Apple Watch yet, new S10 chipset, a slimmer, lighter body, and new health and fitness features, there’s plenty to dive into here.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next Apple Watch
- When is it out? September 20
- How much will it cost? $399 / £TBC / AU$TBC
Apple Watch Series 10: Release date and price
The Apple Watch 10 was revealed at the Apple event on September 9, and will be released on September 20. We know the wearable starts at $399, with international pricing TBC. This is around the same as an Apple Watch Series 9 41mm model.
However, it wasn’t mentioned in the presentation what sizes the Apple Watch Series 10 will arrive in, or how much that bigger screen will cost. We weren’t even given a size in milimeters for the giant new screen, which was the Series 10’s biggest design change.
Apple Watch Series 10: Design and screen
We’ve had quite a few Apple Watch Series 10 changes, first up that screen. Still unknown on exact size, we do know it’s bigger than the Ultra’s 49mm screen, comprised of Sapphire glass, and and is an “under-the-front crystal” wide-angle OLED with 30% more screen space than your average Apple Watch Series 6.
It’s allegedly easier to type messages, pause workouts, and is 40% brighter when viewed at an angle compared to previous generations. It’s also extremely power-efficient, and always-on display mode now updates once a second instead of once a minute.
The new Flux face is designed to work perfectly with this new design, but there’s plenty more going on in terms of design than just this big, bright new screen. New polished aluminum finishes including Jet Black, Rose Gold and Silver Aluminum have been polished to ensure maximum shine. The aluminum usage is 10% lighter than previous generations too, while the body itself is also the thinnest Apple Watch ever at 9.7mm.
The speaker system has also been re-engineered, with a 30% smaller speaker outputting the same amount of acoustic power as the old speaker. For the first time, you can play media out loud – who needs AirPods, eh?
The premium stainless steel models have been replaced with titanium, in Natural, Gold and Slate Gray. The titanium models are said to be carbon neutral, comprised of 95% recycled titanium and created with 100% renewable energy.
Apple Watch Series 10: Features
The flagship health feature this year was the new Breathing Disturbances metric. Available in the Health app, Breathing Disturbances analyses the last 30 days of sleep tracking to identify instances of moderate-to-consistent sleep apnea. Apple claims millions of people are living with undiagnosed sleep apnea, and this feature could help. It’s awaiting FCC certification, a stamp of quality previously awarded to its AFib features.
Otherwise, Ultra-exclusive workout apps like Depth for diving, Tides and the third-party Oceanic+ app are coming to the mainline Apple Watch Series 10. While not suitable for deep-sea scuba, the Series 10 is now ideal for snorkeling, while the new Tides app can help predict and improve conditions for fishing, surfing, snorkeling and more.
The new S10 chipset offers machine learning to identify patterns associated with trips, slips and falls, improve voice calls, and the Apple Watch now gets the iPhone’s Translate app thanks to the improved smarts. Apple was hesitant to refer to the capabilities as “AI-powered”, though.
Apple Watch 10: what we want to see
We don’t know anything for certain about the Apple Watch 10 yet, but we know what we want from it, including the following things.
1. Better battery life
One of our main disappointments with the Apple Watch 9 is that it requires a daily charge, which can also limit your ability to use it for sleep tracking. So a battery life boost is one of our biggest wishes for the Apple Watch 10.
Fortunately, it might get one, as one leak suggests it could feature a new band connector design that would take up less space, and in turn, leave more for a larger battery.
2. A new design
While the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has a slightly different design to the Apple Watch 9, the core numbered models haven’t visually changed much, well, ever really. So we’d really like to see a visual overhaul for the Apple Watch 10.
What that might entail we’re not sure, but we’ve heard talk of a thinner case and a different strap design. If Apple really is going to call it the Apple Watch X then it needs to live up to the name, and a new look would help with that.
3. An Action button
The Apple Watch Ultra line and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max all have an Action button, so it’s time the standard Apple Watch got one too.
This is a customizable button that you can use as a shortcut to a feature of your choice, so it’s a handy way to speed up navigation, and all the more useful on something with as small a screen as an Apple Watch. So we’d like to see an Action button added to the Apple Watch 10.
4. Useful new health features
Apple Watches have become increasingly focused on helping you monitor your health and fitness, and we want to see the Apple Watch 10 continue that push.
Rumors suggest it might be able to alert you to sleep apnea and high blood pressure, so we hope those leaks prove accurate.
5. Android compatibility
Okay, there’s no chance of this happening, but we’d love to be able to use an Apple Watch with an Android phone.
Right now, if you tend to switch between iPhones and Android phones, the Apple Watch is a risky purchase, since you won’t be able to use it with an Android, and a lot of exclusively Android phone users would probably also like an Apple Watch.
So it’s unfortunate that this isn’t an option, especially as you can use Wear OS watches with an iPhone.