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Apple Watch Series 10 vs. Series 11 Buyer's Guide: Apple's Smallest Ever Upgrade?
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So the hyper tension health check is a software feature that is not exclusive to Apple Watch Series 11?
Disregard, I found the answer:
When Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 on Tuesday, the company said it expected FDA approval "soon" for hypertension alerts. That clearance has now been granted.
The feature will be available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later, plus Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later models, expanding beyond the newly announced watches. Hypertension alerts will launch in the U.S. and more than 150 countries, though some regions may require their own independent regulatory approval.
When Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 on Tuesday, the company said it expected FDA approval "soon" for hypertension alerts. That clearance has now been granted.
The feature will be available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later, plus Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later models, expanding beyond the newly announced watches. Hypertension alerts will launch in the U.S. and more than 150 countries, though some regions may require their own independent regulatory approval.
I have Series 7 and maybe is a good moment to find good offers on the S10. I bought S7 when the S8 was launched only paying like 180 €. I would love to find something similar... maybe on BlackMarket or Amazon Warehouse.
It feels like this is not the Watch Apple wanted to ship this year, so they made some very incremental improvements on Series 10 to deliver something — anything — on the 19th.
Rumors keep pointing to a ”major” redesign with new health sensors, and I suspect that’s the version they had intended to launch this year, but ran into difficulty.
I also find it interesting that they list “Tough sapphire crystal display with titanium case” on the comparison page, as if it’s a new feature when it’s been used on the higher end models for ages.
Still, I’m upgrading from a stainless steel Series 6 44mm to a titanium Series 11 42mm (same screen size, but tidier form factor.)
Rumors keep pointing to a ”major” redesign with new health sensors, and I suspect that’s the version they had intended to launch this year, but ran into difficulty.
I also find it interesting that they list “Tough sapphire crystal display with titanium case” on the comparison page, as if it’s a new feature when it’s been used on the higher end models for ages.
Still, I’m upgrading from a stainless steel Series 6 44mm to a titanium Series 11 42mm (same screen size, but tidier form factor.)
Absolutely. But there is near zero difference from 10 to 11. Legit just sliver more battery and improvement in coating on the glass.
I get it. But if there was at least continual SoC improvements every year then at least that would justify it a bit more. This time they literally just kept the same S10 SoC. Did the CPU within the S10 even change much, if at all from the one used in the S9?
Now that we have hypotension alerts and it seems blood glucose is still years away there is just a single rumor for Apple Watches next year from "big" sources... about a month ago Kuo said all of next year's models (Series and Ultra) get an all new HR optical and sensor package on the back of the watch for the first time in 5+ years. Now considering the package is already one of the most if not the most accurate of its kind on a smartwatch we have to ask what is the point... I assume one or more of these: lower power usage enabling 24/7 every second recording of HR (similar to what Garmin and others already do), improved accuracy to allow for immediate or eventual display of blood pressure numerical values, smaller physical size to help the watches get thinner etc.
I also think both watches will get a new more powerful CPU next year for the first time in 3 years, and maybe it will enable some on watch Apple Intelligence of some kind.
I believe there is a chance the screens get larger (without changing the case) in the Series 12 next year as the Series 10/11 has much larger bezels than the Series 7/8/9 did and so there is room to reduce the bezel without changing the case similar to what Ultra 3 did this year.
Besides this I firmly believe next year the Ultra 4 will see a case redesign... normally Apple updates the physical case of a watch every 3 years but with last year's rehash of the Ultra 2 rather than a true Ultra 3 which had to wait until this year we will be at 4 full years with the exact same case next year... I would expect some form of redesign... maybe thinner, maybe a change to bump out that has crown or something like that. Maybe they will offer a smaller size of the Ultra as an option?
I also think both watches will get a new more powerful CPU next year for the first time in 3 years, and maybe it will enable some on watch Apple Intelligence of some kind.
I believe there is a chance the screens get larger (without changing the case) in the Series 12 next year as the Series 10/11 has much larger bezels than the Series 7/8/9 did and so there is room to reduce the bezel without changing the case similar to what Ultra 3 did this year.
Besides this I firmly believe next year the Ultra 4 will see a case redesign... normally Apple updates the physical case of a watch every 3 years but with last year's rehash of the Ultra 2 rather than a true Ultra 3 which had to wait until this year we will be at 4 full years with the exact same case next year... I would expect some form of redesign... maybe thinner, maybe a change to bump out that has crown or something like that. Maybe they will offer a smaller size of the Ultra as an option?
I would argue that the previous smallest generational change was the Series 8 (compared to the previous Series 7), which had the same design, screen and chip but added a temperature sensor and Bluetooth 5.3 (and new colors). Most of the focus was on the introduction of the 1st gen Ultra though so the Series 8 was mostly overlooked at the time.
we have been "brainwashed" for like 40 years of CPU performance improvements year over year, and we look at all computing tools that way, watch, phone, tablet, laptop/desktop ... and we've reached a point where those upgrades are becoming more and more marginal. computing devices from 5 years go are still "good enough" for more and more people ...
As for the watch, I still have my S7 and upgraded from a U1 to the U2 when it was introduced 2 years ago.
s7 is noticeably slower when it comes to watchOS upgrades as well as boot time, and it is slightly slower launching apps but it does everything my U2 does just as good.
Where does the current CPU lack? I honestly don't know the answer to that question. Maybe not upgrading it is an indication that apple does not see the need for AI on the watch (which would be a good thing imho), or, they have something way bigger planned for next year, who knows?
Having said that, I was not impressed with the upgrades this year, there just isn't much, I had really hoped to see some new health sensors and would have upgraded, but that didn't happen...
I have a series 6, and was considering upgrading, but I’m waiting for next year’s rumored big redesign. I don’t want to buy a new watch every few years, even if marketing tries to convince me otherwise.
The expected redesign will make it worth for me. Meanwhile, I’m thinking of changing the battery.
Don’t take me wrong -it’s not a money issue. I just don’t want to enter a spiral of consumption just because something looks cool. And next year I will regret it if I upgraded this year instead of waiting.
The expected redesign will make it worth for me. Meanwhile, I’m thinking of changing the battery.
Don’t take me wrong -it’s not a money issue. I just don’t want to enter a spiral of consumption just because something looks cool. And next year I will regret it if I upgraded this year instead of waiting.
Yep, I never quite understand the fascination of seeing whether immediate upgrades are needed. I don't think any in recent years has been close to it. There are obviously usually some sort of improvements, but with Apple continually using 2-4 generations back as the benchmark for a new product, we know that even they can't justify it.
It'd be way more useful for these to discuss 3-4 generation back as a "what do you get now" option. My wife has an S6 that can barely get through a day now without being charged, and I'm curious what improvements she would see with a new option, or an SE for example.
I agree. The Series 5 bringing AOD was a huge change (in my opinion anyway).
Just looking back, seems like this will be 3rd year with similar performance / same CPU, and prior to Series 9, the 6-7-8 SiPs were also very similar performance wise. Maybe they're onto this 3 year cycle for performance improvements?
For what its worth, last year was supposed to be the big redesign, then this, and I think with the Apple Watch Ultra we are seeing strict limits on what they can do. I wouldn't bank on any big changes anytime soon.
I agree. I just tend to notice with OS updates the watch starts to feel sluggish. I've been using an Ultra for near 3 years now and think I'll upgrade.
Definitely think it's a bit nuts to upgrade year over year. I was more commenting on with such minimal change do we really need to see a revision every year (where as with something like iPad its closer to 18 months or so).
News like this make me pretty confident it will happen this time: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/19/new-apple-watch-with-touch-id-and-more-uncovered/
And the very minor upgrade of this year seems to corroborate that resources are being spent in future changes. But you never know, of course…
I think the result would be the same if you compared the Series 11 to the Series 9 as well.
As someone who upgraded from a Series 5 to a Series 6 a few years ago, I find it disappointing. I’d assumed that—even if only incrementally—some meaningful improvements would be made each year for a product on an annual release cycle. Instead, I had to wait until the Series 9 to see a truly worthwhile upgrade. This year’s model doesn’t just feel like more of the same—it feels exactly the same.
Totally wild to claim that the S4 to S5 is the smallest update ever; I’d call it one of the largest, as AOD alone transformed Apple Watch more than any other feature. S5 to S6 (new chip and altimeter) and S7 to S8 (crash detection and cycle tracking) were waaaay smaller updates than S4 to S5, and I’d argue S7 to S8 remains the smallest ever, even smaller than 10 to 11.
I’m upgrading from S7 to S11 and am excited to get 4 generations of changes at once, but yeah, Apple Watch is probably Apple’s slowest evolving product, other than Apple TV.
I’m upgrading from S7 to S11 and am excited to get 4 generations of changes at once, but yeah, Apple Watch is probably Apple’s slowest evolving product, other than Apple TV.
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Their marketing is insidious. Hypertension notification and sleep score should've been announced at WWDC since they're software features, avaible on existing hardware. But they held off announcing them until the reveal of new hardware to trick people into thinking they need the new watches to get them. Despicable.
I am going to wait and see if the 5G makes a difference. I use my cellular connection daily for walks without my phone and streaming music. Where I am, the signal is weak in places. This may not help any which is why I will wait and see. I have the Ultra 1 currently so I am otherwise without need to update and this may not be a valid reason.