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Is this a bad time to buy Apple Watch?

H

hajime

macrumors G3
Original poster
According to the Buyer's Guide, CAUTION to buy the Series 11 due to September release of Series 12. Why the SE is BUY NOW while the Ultra is NEUTRAL? I thought they all come out in September.

Is it true that by August, we will know what the specifications will be like?
 
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The Ultra is uncertain, it skipped 2024 and so they’re guessing the next one after 2025 will be in 2027.
The SE didn’t update in 2023, 2024, so they’re guessing the next one after 2025 will be 2028.
Apple Watch updates every year, but so far they keep the same design for 3 years and the last change was the 10.

Watch 12 expects a chip update and minor changes, maybe a colour.

The 11 seems unusually discounted right now and looks like a good buy to me.

Update: after the WWDC watch debacle, I no longer think the Apple Watch is a good buy except the cheapest one,
 
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actcyclist said:
The 11 seems unusually discounted right now and looks like a good buy to me.
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The 11 has had these level of discounts for months, and this is a clear pattern going back many generations where circa Feb or so you'll see ~$100 discounts starting on Amazon that are applied more often than not. Nothing unusual at all.
 
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The ~$100 discount is nice and I ordered it. However, I don't want the white color band and including the cost to buy a band separately, it is still cheaper to buy from Apple Educational. Why most retailers only sell white or black bands?
 
Yeah, I'm finally going to hit the button and pick up an 11 with the $100 discount. I'll be upgrading from an SE1 which has held up remarkably well except the battery takes a huge hit when using GPS. I can't imagine the 12 will be significantly improved.
 
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washablemarkers said:
Yeah, I'm finally going to hit the button and pick up an 11 with the $100 discount. I'll be upgrading from an SE1 which has held up remarkably well except the battery takes a huge hit when using GPS. I can't imagine the 12 will be significantly improved.
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One thing worth consideration is the length of updates is shortening. WatchOS 27 only goes back to Series 9 - just 4 years of new OS updates.

In another ~7 months S12 should be available for $100 off as well - as mentioned above, this is an extremely predictable pattern at this point of when the discounts land and mostly hold on Amazon.
 
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It’s still a decent watch compared to alternatives but I’d avoid the higher priced models given support is now only expected to be about 3 years like the Pixel Watch.

So now’s a bad time to buy the Ultra and other watches more than the SE and possibly base model.
 
Apple Watch from now on is a TERRIBLE BUY!!!!!!!!!! They are leaving a huge part of their most loyal customers in the dust with this latest release, not allowing 3, THREE, TRE, SAN YEAR OLD DEVICES UPDATE TO IT!!!!!

Save yourself the let down, depression, and anger of losing a trusted device and get a mechanical watch or a Garmin.
 
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Beau10 said:
One thing worth consideration is the length of updates is shortening. WatchOS 27 only goes back to Series 9 - just 4 years of new OS updates.

In another ~7 months S12 should be available for $100 off as well - as mentioned above, this is an extremely predictable pattern at this point of when the discounts land and mostly hold on Amazon.
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Sure- but my SE stopped getting updates in 2023 and it still mostly works. I have reasons to want to upgrade before the summer because I'll be using it a lot more, especially away from the phone, and the GPS drain is really rotten- although the watch battery itself can still hold up through the day- I don't wear it at night.
I don't really want to wait seven months and possibly pay more, like, eventually, if I can get that deal now.
 
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actcyclist said:
It’s still a decent watch compared to alternatives but I’d avoid the higher priced models given support is now only expected to be about 3 years like the Pixel Watch.

So now’s a bad time to buy the Ultra and other watches more than the SE and possibly base model.
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If you look at the matrix on Wikipedia, the number of years is all over the place, four or five years. Didn't dive into "why" four or five, but quick glance, SE 1 has previous year's AW5 processor, so no more updates when S5 went off support (5=5yrs, SE1=4yrs).

Ultra 2 might get OS 28... or not. U3 should get two more updates at minimum.

But ditto the avoid the pricier models unless have a real need for it. Personally, never saw the need or had the desire for Hermes versions, Ultras, Edition Series, etc. I do what @washablemarkers did, get the current year's model 6-7 months down the road when they are $100 off on Amazon (S10 for me, so probably at least two more years of software [27, 28] and probably won't be missing anything that 29 brings if S10 is dropped for it).

(ADD: and next year my 13 Mini might be out of software support as well, so, 28 or 29 might be a moot issue as no Watch App to talk to latest WatchOS-es [though guessing have two years here as iOS 27 does phone 11 and newer])
 
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NoBoMac said:
get the current year's model 6-7 months down the road when they are $100 off on Amazon
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Believe it or not, Series 11 first hit $100 off on Dec 22. It's been discounted like this for nearly a half year now.

Series 10 first happened on March 7th fwiw, so it's a bit variable, but by this point in the cycle it's generally been discounted for awhile.

Also Black Friday tends to see a $70 discount.
 
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The year over year improvements and changes for a Watch are pretty minimal. Even though there will likely be a new Watch model this September, it is unlikely to have more than minor changes that matter.
 
If you’re an Amazon shopper, I think there’s a good chance the series 11 will be discounted even further during Prime days next week, to $279 for the 42mm aluminum. At least that’s what happened last summer with the series 10. And the other big box stores might match the lowest Amazon price if you’d prefer to avoid Amazon.
 
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If you're looking to get a new Apple Watch, at this point I would wait it out until Apple's September launch to see what is coming out and then weigh in if the new Apple Watch is worth upgrading to or like what was mentioned, go to Amazon and purchase your next watch from there. I wouldn't think to purchase a new watch now unless you had no choice to. Just my input on this discussion.
 
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I just bought an SE 3 during the sale at Amazon today, to use as my exercise/home projects watch. I expect it will get banged up but I liked the price and it should last me awhile for that purpose.
 
SusieS said:
I just bought an SE 3 during the sale at Amazon today, to use as my exercise/home projects watch. I expect it will get banged up but I liked the price and it should last me awhile for that purpose.
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Yea, those haven't been able to be software updated in a while so no surprises expected there.
 
hajime said:
According to the Buyer's Guide, CAUTION to buy the Series 11 due to September release of Series 12.
Click to expand...
It is a good time to buy a Series 11 if that is what you want, and, you can take advantage of one of the good deals out there. You aren't buying gold jewelry, you are buying a personal digital device that has functionality that you want to use. These things have a finite lifetime, so, don't overpay.
 
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I’m wondering how much the watches will increase in price this fall. The articles I’ve seen about other Apple devices mention hefty jumps…25 to 30% or so. 😬. I just wonder if the days of the $299 sale watches are coming to an end.
 
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SusieS said:
I’m wondering how much the watches will increase in price this fall. The articles I’ve seen about other Apple devices mention hefty jumps…25 to 30% or so. 😬. I just wonder if the days of the $299 sale watches are coming to an end.
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Where did you see 25 to 30% price jump? Any link?
 
www.macrumors.com

Tim Cook Says Apple Price Increases Are 'Unavoidable' Due to Memory Costs

Apple is raising its prices to offset the high cost of memory and storage, CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal. Apple is no longer able to absorb the increased prices and will need to pass some of the cost on to consumers. "Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," said Cook.
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

I’ve seen other reports mentioning a $300 jump for the iPhone 18 Pro, so a 27% hike.
 
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SusieS said:
I’m wondering how much the watches will increase in price this fall. The articles I’ve seen about other Apple devices mention hefty jumps…25 to 30% or so. 😬. I just wonder if the days of the $299 sale watches are coming to an end.
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I had read some reports that industry analysts expect costs to rise about 15%. Not sure that would give a 30% price increase. Such an increase would seriously lower sales volumes.
 
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