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lifereinspired

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 9, 2019
46
21
Hi,

TL;DR: I'm sharing a fairly large comparison sheet of the different Apple Watches from Series 3/4/5/6/SE with particularly interesting specs around the size of each of the batteries and screen sizes and how those have changed from one series to the next. Hope you find it helpful! Link:


It's a Notion page. You'll either see the Comparison embedded in the page (I set it up so it's much larger) or you'll see a link in the Notion page to open a high-quality view of the sheet (depending on what type of browser you use). I've also added a straight link to open the Comparison, in case you can't click or view the PDF directly. No ads or pop-ups should be there!

Backstory: I learned a couple of days ago that iFixit just did a tear down of the AW S6 and we learned that there are new battery sizes. This took me down a rabbit hole wondering what all the previous battery sizes were, how those compared to the screen sizes, and how those compared across different series Apple Watch. Next thing I know, I've created a simple comparison sheet, focusing particularly on the battery and screen (I have this one saved if anyone is interested in the simpler version). Then I started adding more info little by little till I ended up with this sheet. All the info from the first sheet is on here (and there's some fascinating data about battery sizes compared with screen sizes that's worth looking at). But I thought it might be either helpful for some folks wanting some comparison data in one place or other might find it interesting & want to take a look. So, I'm sharing it here. If you find mistakes, you can let me know and I'll try to fix it. I was going to share a copy that others could also add to (as a community resource) it but I'm not sure of the best way of doing that, so decided to start with this PDF. I hope you find it interesting or helpful!
 
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Just a little note that Watch is misspelled in the last column. Great job with all the info! :)

Whoops! I completely missed that - and so did the spell checker! Thanks SO much for pointing that out. I really appreciate it! All fixed now. :D
 
Nice! A couple of suggestions for you to consider:

- Split the 38/40mm comparison from the 42/44mm comparison into different tables, so it is easier to compare the like-for-like evolution
- Put Series 6 last in the sequence
- On Series 6, some of the 44mm are compared against the 40mm, e.g., "Battery +14.26% vs 40mm S6" better to compare the 44mm S5.
- Heart Sensor details - Apple's descriptions on "2nd gen" are misleading, S5 vs S6 are totally different - see this video
- Any rows that are the same for all watches, like GymKit, Ambient Light, Apple Pay... I would suggest put at the very bottom
- S6 vs S5 - I believe there should be a weight difference, S6 is slightly lighter with the removal of force touch
- Include charging speed, S6 has much faster charging (50% in 30min, 80% in 1 hour)

Overall, awesome job :)
 
Nice! A couple of suggestions for you to consider:

- Split the 38/40mm comparison from the 42/44mm comparison into different tables, so it is easier to compare the like-for-like evolution
- Put Series 6 last in the sequence
- On Series 6, some of the 44mm are compared against the 40mm, e.g., "Battery +14.26% vs 40mm S6" better to compare the 44mm S5.
- Heart Sensor details - Apple's descriptions on "2nd gen" are misleading, S5 vs S6 are totally different - see this video
- Any rows that are the same for all watches, like GymKit, Ambient Light, Apple Pay... I would suggest put at the very bottom
- S6 vs S5 - I believe there should be a weight difference, S6 is slightly lighter with the removal of force touch
- Include charging speed, S6 has much faster charging (50% in 30min, 80% in 1 hour)

Overall, awesome job :)

Hi,

Some really good thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to share them in such detail. I appreciate it. :) I'll go through a few of them.

The reason I started this for myself, initially, was to look in depth at the battery and display data. I've heard a lot about the battery in the 44mm vs 40mm and how long it lasts (some say 44mm smokes 40mm with similar usage, others say they are about the same). I'm interested in a 40mm for myself but didn't want to be disappointed with the battery. Once I found out a few days ago that iFixit had specific data regarding the sizes of the batteries from their latest S6 tear-down - and that it's different in each Series (including the 6) and each size, I really wanted to be able to look at those in comparison. So, I did some of those 40mm vs 44mm very on purpose so that others, like me could dig in deep and see the differences - not just across S5 to S6 (which of course I've included, too) but also 40mm vs 44mm. This seems to be almost a hard a decision for many people as which Series they want. For instance, on the S4/5/6 design, the display on 44mm is around 28% larger than the 40mm and in the older S4 or even S5, the 44mm battery was closer to that same percentage larger as the display. However, in the S6, the display remains 28% larger than the 40mm but the battery is now only about 14% larger - making the battery in the 40mm less of a compromise. Hope that makes sense.

I did compare the 44mm S5 vs S6 as well - it's in the "Battery +/- Previous Gen". That's actually why I currently have the S6 next to the S5 rather than at the end. I felt it was easier to compare the specs side by side and I knew folks would want to see those. The 40mm comparison is in addition to that. I wanted just about every conceivable battery comparison to be available. Having said that, if I can figure out a good way to move the S6 over to the right and put the SE somewhere that it won't inhibit S5 to S6 comparison, I'm very open to that.

I'll watch the info in that video. I'm really intrigued. I'll happily add that info and still mention that Apple calls them both 2nd Gen but there's good evidence that it's newer. I'm excited to check it out.

I was trying to keep some of the items that were similar together, which is why all those items that are the same across aren't exactly together (so the screen brightness is up in the screen data section). But it's a good suggestion so I'll see if there's a way I can keep those fairly moderately organized and still move then down.

There is a very small weight difference and I've given the exact specs that Apple has provided for each of the Series. They were not simply copied and pasted from one of the Series. Each is specific to the Series and the material it's made out of. While they did, of course, remove the force touch in S6, they added the SPO2 sensors and increased the battery size. This likely accounts for why the weight difference is minuscule.

Woops! I thought I mentioned fast charging somewhere. Must have missed that due to only 2 hours sleep. It's a great suggestion and one that I'm happy to add. Thanks for suggesting it.

I want to keep all the comparisons of the sizes and batteries. Having said that, I'm totally open to moving things around if there's an easier way for people to take in all the data. I don't want it overlooked.

Thanks again for your suggestions. They will help make this even better. :)
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Wow that had to have taken some time. Thank you!

It did actually, more hours than I can to even acknowledge or admit! I really appreciate your kind words. Thank you!
 
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Spiffy, thorough, detailed chart! Very helpful.

Echo what others have said about all the work you put in on it! Kudos.

Any chance of:

1. Adding a row that would give the area of the watch face in square inches? I know we can calculate it, but it'd be handy to see it already done.

2. Making this a directly linked PDF that doesn't take one to an Amazon site with the potential for cookies being planted?

3. The final column for the SE is blank under gyroscope.

4. I wonder if you could save space by putting all the common features at the bottom.

5. It'd be easier to read you dropped “Apple Watch” from the top header row — it's redundant; the same thing for every column, making it harder to quickly spot the different watches. It might read easier if it were “Series 3” spanning two different sizes below it; “Series 4” across its two sizes; etc.

6. Finally, it's generally better to go from smaller to larger as you move from left to right, so 38mm before 42mm and 40mm before 44mm.

7. A separate chart that compares just the 3, SE, and 6 would be useful for those considering buying new today.

All small suggestions, but I hope they help.
 
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