Apple’s annual September event, looked a little different this year, but they still delivered with announcing and releasing new items. While the iPhone 12 has not yet been released, two new Apples Watches were made available for purchase, the Series 6 and the Special Edition (SE).
While both watches are the newest in the line of Apple Watches, they do come with some pretty big differences, including the price tag. If you’re looking to grab the Series 6 this holiday season you can expect to pay around $400. If that is more than you would like to spend the SE is available for 279.
Before we jump into the differences, let’s take a look at what is the same. Both watches provide the same viewing experience as they contain the same display and resolution. The pair is also water resistant meaning they can be worn in the shower or when you go for a swim. Apple has also released two new bands, the Solo and the Braided Loops.
The Series 6 does offer more design and color choices than the SE. Both are available in silver, grey and gold, but the Series 6 has blue and red versions to go along with its steel and titanium versions. From a display standpoint, the only other difference is the Series 6 has Apples Always-On display while the SE does not. The Always—On display was introduced in Series 5 and means the display is constantly on and the wearer does not need to raise their wrist or tap the display to check time and notifications.
What about the hardware on inside of the two watches? The Series 6 includes the latest S6 chipset while the SE will still use the S5 system, but Apple has said that the SE will be twice as fast as the Series 3 released in 2017.
One of the Apple’s biggest advertising points have been the Series 6’s Blood Oxygen Sensors. This is a feature that will only be available on the Series 6 and as the name indicates, allows the watch to measure your blood oxygen levels. This feature is known as oximeter and can gather information and insight the wearers breathing and blood circulation in as little as 15 seconds. The app will be running in the background to gather data during sleep, but wearers can also trigger a manual reading as well. All of this data will be available in the Health App.
While the oximeter is only present in the Series 6, both watches have an optical heart rate sensor. However, the Series 6 will have an app for an electrical heart sensor (ECG or EKG) that first debuted in the Series 4. This will allow the watch to detect irregular heart rhythms.
The last difference that will be highlighted is the fact that the Series 6 has a U1 chip. This chip was first seen in Apples iPhone 11 and has been used in subsequent phones. The chip is designed to help with spatial awareness in locating devices that are close in proximity. This chip was meant to help improve the Air Drop feature, but Apple also has hinted that there will be more uses for the U1 chip.
Both watches will be running WatchOS7 and will both debut a new feature, the Family Setup. This new feature will allow users to pair a watch with another individuals iPhone. This can be used my parents to connect to a child’s watch and limit contacts and app downloads, while also allowing for location tracking. The wearer is also not required to have an iPhone for this feature to be enabled if that individual only has an Apple Watch this will still be a usable feature.
As always, if you have an Apple Watch or other smart device that needs repaired please stop in at one of our 11 Genius Locations. You can find your nearest location on our website at https://www.geniusphonerepair.com/locations.html