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Upgrading From an Older Apple Watch? Here's How the New Features Stack Up

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The Apple Watch has received some incremental updates in recent years, with significant upgrades becoming fewer and farther between as the device has progressed. Since the Apple Watch's generation-over-generation enhancements are relatively small, it is all the more important to consider when an upgrade is justified and whether an older model could suffice for your needs.

Apple-Watch-Series-9-Buyers-Guide-Feature.jpg

The Apple Watch Series 11 is one of the smallest refreshes in the device's history, but it can still form a good upgrade if coming from an older device where the changes stack up. While all previous Apple Watch models from before the Series 11 have been discontinued, older models may still be found for lower prices from third-party retailers or second-hand.

Read on to see the breakdown below for each new feature, change, and improvement that was added with each Apple Watch model compared to its direct predecessor. Viewing each generation's changes in this way helps weigh up the accumulative upgrades one receives by skipping multiple generations when buying a new device, as well as get a sense of which generations offered the biggest overall upgrades.

Apple Watch Series 11 (2025)

  • 2x more scratch-resistant Ion-X glass (aluminum models only)
  • 5G connectivity (cellular models only)
  • 7–10% larger battery
  • Space Gray aluminum option introduced

Apple Watch Series 10 (2024)

  • Refined design with a thinner casing, display with more rounded edges and a wider aspect ratio, and front glass that extends further over the sides for a higher screen-to-body ratio
    42mm and 46mm case sizes
  • Larger displays
  • LTPO3 display for faster refresh rate in always-on mode, enabling a live ticking seconds hand on select watch faces
  • Wide-angle OLED (up to 40% brighter when viewed at an angle)
  • S10 chip (same CPU as S9, but more compact)
  • Water temperature sensor
  • Depth app and Depth gauge to 6m
  • Microphone with voice isolation
  • Redesigned speaker with media playback
  • Metal back with larger charging coil and integrated antenna
  • Faster charging (0–80% in about 30 minutes)
  • Titanium casing replaces stainless steel option, now in Silver (matches previous stainless steel casing, Apple Watch Hermès only), Gold, Slate, and Natural
  • Starlight, Midnight, Pink, and (PRODUCT)RED finishes discontinued, replaced with Silver, Rose Gold, and polished Jet Black finishes

Apple Watch Series 9 (2023)

  • Retina display with up to 2,000 nits of brightness
  • Display can get dimmer in dark rooms and at night (down to 1 nit of brightness)
  • Double tap gesture
  • Wrist flick gesture
  • Sleep apnea detection
  • Hypertension detection
  • S9 chip (based on A15 Bionic)
  • 4-core Neural Engine (2x faster than Series 8)
  • Siri‌ processed on-device for requests that do not need information from the internet
  • ‌Siri‌ can access health and fitness data
  • 25% more accurate dictation
  • Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip
  • Precision Finding for iPhone 15 models
  • HomePod proximity integration
  • 64GB storage
  • Pink aluminum casing introduced

Apple Watch Series 8 (2022)

  • S8 chip (same CPU as S6)
  • More powerful gyroscope and high dynamic range accelerometer
  • ‌Crash Detection
  • Body temperature sensor
  • Wrist temperature sensing during sleep
  • Cycle tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates
  • Blue and Green aluminum casings discontinued, Silver aluminum reintroduced
  • Apple Watch Edition discontinued

Apple Watch Series 7 (2021)

  • 41mm and 45mm case sizes
  • 1.7mm display borders for almost 20% more screen area than Series 6
  • QWERTY keyboard
  • Up to 70% brighter display than Series 6 indoors when wrist is down
  • S7 chip (Same CPU as S6)
  • Crack-resistant front crystal (50% thicker)
  • IP6X dust resistance
  • Fast charging for up to 80% charge in about 45 minutes (33% faster than Series 6)
  • Silver and Space Gray aluminum casings discontinued, Midnight, Starlight, and Green introduced

Apple Watch Series 6 (2020)

  • Up to 2.5x brighter always-on display
  • Access Notification Center, Control Center, and Complications when display is asleep
  • S6 chip (based on A13 Bionic, 20% faster than S5)
  • Always-on altimeter
  • First-generation Ultra Wideband chip
  • 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi
  • Blood oxygen sensor
  • Faster charging for a full charge in under 1.5 hours
  • Improved battery life for tracking certain workouts, such as indoor and outdoor runs
  • Blue and (PRODUCT)RED aluminum casing options introduced
  • Space Black stainless steel casing available with Apple Watch Hermès only, Graphite option introduced
  • Ceramic Apple Watch Edition discontinued

Apple Watch Series 5 (2019)

  • Always-on Retina display
  • Force Touch removed
  • S5 chip
  • Compass
  • 32GB storage
  • Apple Watch Edition reintroduced with White Ceramic, Natural Titanium, and Space Black Titanium casing options

Apple Watch Series 4 (2018)

  • 40mm and 44mm case sizes
  • Over 30% larger display with curved corners
  • 3.0mm display borders
  • S4 chip (2x faster than S3)
  • Gyroscope and accelerometer
  • Barometric altimeter
  • Fall detection
  • 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
  • Optical heart sensor and electrical heart sensor for ECG
  • 16GB storage
  • Digital Crown with haptic feedback
  • 50% louder speaker
  • Relocated microphone for reduced echo and better sound quality
  • Faster charging for a full charge in 1.5 hours
  • Gold stainless steel casing introduced
  • Apple Watch Edition discontinued

Apple Watch Series 3 (2017)

  • S3 chip (70% faster than S2)
  • Barometric altimeter
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • Siri able to speak through the onboard speaker
  • LTE cellular model available with red Digital Crown
  • Rose Gold aluminum casing discontinued
  • Gray Ceramic Apple Watch Edition model introduced

Apple Watch Series 2 (2016)
... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Upgrading From an Older Apple Watch? Here's How the New Features Stack Up
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/guide/upgrading-from-older-apple-watch/
Tempted to upgrade from Series 9 for the battery, but I'm not sure I use my Apple Watch enough to justify it ahh
 
I am curious about my series 6, because the chip is the same in S7 and S8 when Apple stops updating the S6 will stop updating both versions as well?
 
Currently on a Series 6 44mm Aluminium, which would get another (a last?) watchOS update this year, but with aging battery, noticeable when workout with enabled LTE and streaming music to my AirPods Pro 2, without having my iPhone with me.

Either squeeze really the last bits out of it until next year 2026 (Series 12, ...), but I'm also on the fence getting a Series 11 Titanium or even Ultra 3. The Ultra 3 would be the most tempting update, but with my rather small wrist, hmm ...
 
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This was helpful, thanks Hartley!

I have a Series 4 so the obvious upgrade for me is a Series 10. I'd go for titanium. But I'm also interested in the Ultra 3 so I'll take a trip to the Apple Store in Southampton some time and look at the AWU3 and S11 (Titanium) before making a final decision.

Whatever I do, the upgrade for me is going to be huge!! :D
 
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tomstone74 said:
Currently on a Series 6 44mm Aluminium, which would get another (a last?) watchOS update this year, but with aging battery, noticeable when workout with enabled LTE and streaming music to my AirPods Pro 2, without having my iPhone with me.

Either squeeze really the last bits out of it until next year 2026 (Series 12, ...), but I'm also on the fence getting a Series 11 Titanium or even Ultra 3. The Ultra 3 would be the most tempting update, but with my rather small wrist, hmm ...
Click to expand...
I’m in nearly the same boat, but my decision may be easier.

I’m still on an iPhone XS, so I can’t use the S11/U3 unless I get a new iPhone. Im helmet on getting one more year out of the XS. Maybe I’ll upgrade a little earlier of the 17e is compelling.

So I’m gonna suck it out with my XS/S6 combination until I get a new phone. At which point, I might opt to wait for the next AW revision.
 
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It really feels like the Series 11 is the tock to the Series 10 tick. Makes me think of the way the iPhone had a release and then an S version the following year with minor improvements.
 
My S5 works fine on iOS 26. Maybe if Apple opened up the Apple faces to developers then I would actually consider an upgrade.
 
Series 7 battery needed service. Someone else’s problem now cuz Costco had a Series 10 for $299.97.

Battery’s fantastic. Noticeably quicker interactions (CPU?) too. Without a giftcard that happened to be on hand to “sweeten” the deal (psychologically), the $99 battery service on the Series 7 would’ve been fine. Except for a sad screen scratch* and the thought of a few more years of watchOS updates.

Apple battled physics so hard they achieved near perfection with this thing years ago. Kudos. Can maybe just focus on watchOS and battery chemistry from here.

* edit - make that watchOS longevity only then! Thanks @WarmWinterHat below
 
Last edited:
AppleCook said:
Series 7 battery needed service. Someone else’s problem now cuz Costco had a Series 10 for $299.97.

Battery’s fantastic. Noticeably quicker. Without a giftcard that happened to be on hand to “sweeten” the deal (psychologically), the $99 battery service on the Series 7 would’ve been fine. Except for a sad scratch and the thought of a few more years of watchOS updates.

Apple battled physics so hard they achieved near perfection with this thing years ago. Kudos. Can maybe just focus on watchOS and battery chemistry from here.
Click to expand...

A battery service on the watch is just a replacement (refurbished) device, so it comes back to you with a fresh screen.
 
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My series 4 is still going strong, so will be quite a jump when I eventually decide to replace it. Might get another year out of it yet, usually only down to less than 10% battery by around 10pm.
 
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I came from a S9 to S11. I was kicking myself thinking it was a "side grade" but holy bananas Apple are under selling the battery and it's totally worth upgrading for this alone. Battery life was one thing I didn't like about the Watch. It wasn't bad but after 2 years of usage my battery had gone down to 90% health and I was starting to really notice it.

Right now, I last charged to 92% at 05:27 yesterday (Tuesday) and it's now 17:43 on Wednesday and I still have 41% battery left. That's about 1.4% battery usage per hour. If I charged to 100% and used it to 0% then that's roughly 71 hours battery life. Even accounting for the inevitable battery degradation or more heavy usage (like when I'm working out 2-3 times a day) then that battery is going to be way more than enough for me.

This is with all the "bells and whistles" enabled. Only time I remove my watch is when showering or charging it. I keep it on during the night for tracking my sleep.

Another positive is that I still haven't had to change the strap. The one that came with my S9 made my skin break out and I had to buy a new strap. That was the rubber sport loop. They must've changed it because I got the same rubber sport loop (but in a different colour) and my skin is absolutely fine.

The new redesign feels better too. The screen is slightly larger/wider and overall the watch feels slimmer.

I'm happy I upgraded.
 
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I cannot believe that my S6 is almost 5 years old, it’s still going strong with a near full day charge (without workout) and a quick battery top up while showering.

I may upgrade eventually if I spot a good deal with either the 10 or 11, but definitely will pass it onto my sibling so that it lives on. Kudos to the engineers who worked on it, it’s a marvel.
 
I upgraded my S7 to a pre-spo2-ban like-new S9 that I found on eBay. Only like $270 with tax. It has pretty much all the features. It has a new battery and it still has a functioning blood oxygen app.

When I activated it, my phone gave me the option to buy AppleCare because the watch had not been activated since it left the factory and was treated as new by the OS.

Given the lack of significant upgrades over the S9 and the downgrade of losing the blood oxygen app on the watch (in the USA), I could not be happier with that purchase. Might have done the same thing even if the price was comparable.
 
Do beware of upgrading your phone and your cellular watch at the same time, at least on Verizon. A lot of Verizon customers are complaining, because they did their phones first, then they get to cellular setup on their new watch they hit a verification screen that sends a PIN to finish logging in. However, the text is going to their watch's number share (which can't receive texts) instead of their phone, because their actual phone number (where the text should have gone) recently migrated. Verizon customer service on Reddit, X, and their own Community Forum have offered explanations, saying that it can take 3, 7-14, or even up to 30 days for that to happen and for a customer to be able to activate cellular on their new watch when migrating.

For example, they responded to one customer:
Normally within 7-14 days, you will be able to receive a secure pin sent to a line where the device has been changed.
Click to expand...

Another customer received this response:
Typically when secondary verification is necessary, the notification is going to be sent to a device on the account that has been active for more than 30 days as a safety measure.
Click to expand...
 
Just out of curiosity, has anyone besides me that has bought a ultra 3 have an issue if it’s close to your ear and a little ticking noise? I don’t hear it unless it’s up near my ear and I’m just wondering if anyone else notices it. I did a little troubleshooting and it was doing it while it was on a the watch charger. However, when I took it off the charger, it stopped when I put it back on. It wasn’t there again so I’m just making sure it’s not something wrong with the watch.

UPDATE: after putting it back in the charger and leaving it for about 30 seconds the ticking is back
 
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