The Apple Watch Series 10 was unveiled by Apple in September and is the flagship Apple Watch for 2024 and beyond. With no Apple Watch Ultra 3 or SE 2 in sight, the Series 10 is the only upgrade to Apple Watch this year beyond watchOS 11.
Headline upgrades include a brand-new display which is larger and brighter, improvements to charging speed, and a redesigned chassis. While it's certainly an upgrade, it's definitely a bit more muted than we were expecting, and not the major Apple Watch X overhaul we were promised by the leaks.
Here's a full rundown of everything you need to know about the new Apple Watch Series 10. Want to skip the specs and find out what we actually think of it? Read our Apple Watch Series 10 review instead.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The newest flagship Apple Watch
- Release date: September 20
- Price: From $399 / £399 / AU$649
Apple Watch Series 10: Release date and price
Following a week of pre-orders, the Apple Watch Series 10 will launch on September 20. Prices start at the same $399/£399 mark as the Apple Watch Series 9. For that, you get the 42mm watch in a Wi-Fi-only configuration. A cellular model is $100/£100 extra, and you can get the more expensive titanium model, replete with more premium band options too.
Apple Watch Series 10: Design and display
The Apple Watch Series 10 features several key design changes over previous iterations. While it retains the rounded squircle design language that has defined Apple Watch for several years, the new Series 10 is noticeably larger. It comes in 42mm and 46mm case sizes, up from 41mm and 45mm last year.
Despite not matching the 49mm Apple Watch Ultra 2 for size, the screen is ever-so-slightly larger. Its 416x496 pixel screen making up a 1220 sq mm display area. The Series 10 is noticeably thinner than previous versions of the Watch, too, so it's less intrusive on your wrist.
As we've found in our review, the new 46-millimeter size doesn't feel massive but is way more expansive for typing, reading messages, and more. The new wide-angle OLED display means the screen is much brighter when viewed at an angle
The new Flux face is designed to work perfectly with this new design, but there's plenty more going on in terms of design than just this big, bright new screen. New polished aluminum finishes including Jet Black, Rose Gold, and Silver Aluminum have been polished to ensure maximum shine. The aluminum usage is 10% lighter than previous generations too, while the body itself is also the thinnest Apple Watch ever at 9.7mm.
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The speaker system has also been re-engineered, with a 30% smaller speaker outputting the same amount of acoustic power as the old speaker. For the first time, you can play media out loud - who needs AirPods, eh? In our review, we've found that the volume is just the same as the previous Series 9, and there really isn't any reason why you'd listen to media on your Apple Watch as opposed to your iPhone or AirPods.
The premium stainless steel models have been replaced with titanium, in Natural, Gold, and Slate Gray. The titanium models are said to be carbon neutral, comprised of 95% recycled titanium, and created with 100% renewable energy.
Apple Watch Series 10: Features
Apple marketed its new sleep apnea detection as a key new Series 10 feature, but it's actually coming to the Series 9 and Ultra 2 by way of watchOS 11.
Beyond the new display and the slightly changed design, there's not much in the way of new features when it comes to Series 10. The charging coil has been uprated, and you can now fast charge the watch to 80% in just 30 minutes. In our review, we've found battery life averaging at around 20 hours of use, including workouts and sleep.
Ultra-exclusive workout apps like Depth for diving, Tides, and the third-party Oceanic+ app are coming to the mainline Apple Watch Series 10. While not suitable for deep-sea scuba, the Series 10 is now ideal for snorkeling, while the new Tides app can help predict and improve conditions for fishing, surfing, snorkeling, and more.
The new S10 chipset offers machine learning to identify patterns associated with trips, slips, and falls, and improve voice calls, and the Apple Watch now gets the iPhone's Translate app thanks to the improved smarts. Apple was hesitant to refer to the capabilities as "AI-powered", though, and you won't find any Apple Intelligence features on the Apple Watch Series 10.
