At its annual September event, Apple introduced its most ambitious Apple Watch lineup yet, unveiling the Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Series 11, and Apple Watch Ultra 3. The new models bring expanded health insights, longer battery life, advanced connectivity, and improved durability, pushing Apple’s wearables further into both mainstream wellness and professional fitness territory.
Apple Watch SE 3: Entry-Level Watch Gets Always-On Display and Health Upgrades
Apple’s most affordable smartwatch, the Apple Watch SE 3, has received its biggest update yet. For the first time, the SE lineup features an Always-On Retina display with stronger Ion-X glass that is four times more crack-resistant.
The SE 3 is powered by the S10 chip, which enables on-device Siri, faster performance, and new one-handed gestures like double tap and wrist flick. Despite the new display, Apple maintains 18-hour battery life, now enhanced with fast charging that provides eight hours of use from just 15 minutes.
On the health side, SE 3 introduces:
- Sleep score tracking to measure sleep quality.
- Retrospective ovulation estimates and wrist temperature sensing.
- Sleep apnea notifications for early detection of breathing irregularities.
The watch is also part of Apple’s Watch For Your Kids program, allowing children to use the device without owning an iPhone. Parents get tools like Find My and Emergency SOS, while kids benefit from Maps, Activity tracking, and Memoji.
Pricing starts at $249, available in 40mm and 44mm sizes, with midnight and starlight aluminum finishes. Pre-orders begin today, with availability on September 19.
Apple Watch Series 11
Apple’s flagship smartwatch, the Apple Watch Series 11, builds on its reputation as the world’s most popular watch with new hypertension notifications, sleep scoring, and 5G cellular support.
The standout addition is hypertension detection, which passively analyzes blood vessel responses over 30 days and alerts users if signs of chronic high blood pressure are detected. Apple estimates the feature could notify over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension in its first year, pending FDA and global approvals.
Series 11 also introduces sleep score, assigning a nightly rating based on duration, wake frequency, and time in different sleep stages. Backed by five million nights of Apple Heart and Movement Study data, the feature helps users improve rest quality with actionable insights.
Other highlights include:
- Up to 24 hours of battery life with fast charging.
- Ion-X glass with ceramic coating for 2x scratch resistance.
- 5G cellular with a redesigned antenna for better reception.
- watchOS 26 features, including Workout Buddy coaching, new Flow and Exactograph watch faces, a wrist flick gesture, and live translation in Messages.
Apple Watch Series 11 comes in 42mm and 46mm sizes, with aluminum finishes in space gray, jet black, rose gold, and silver, plus polished titanium in natural, gold, and slate. Pricing starts at $399, with pre-orders open now and shipping on September 19.
Apple Watch Ultra 3: Rugged Design Meets Satellite Connectivity
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is Apple’s most advanced smartwatch yet, aimed at athletes, adventurers, and professionals. Its headline feature is two-way satellite communication, allowing users to send SOS alerts, location updates, and even text messages when outside Wi-Fi or cellular coverage.
The Ultra 3 also delivers Apple’s longest battery life to date — 42 hours of regular use or 72 hours in Low Power Mode. Powered by the S10 chip, it debuts a larger always-on OLED display with LTPO3 technology, offering thinner bezels, improved brightness, and live second-hand ticking.
Health updates include:
- Hypertension notifications, expanding from Series 11.
- Sleep score tracking for improved rest insights.
- Sports and fitness enthusiasts get:
- Dual-frequency GPS for pinpoint accuracy.
- Pro-level metrics for running, cycling, hiking, swimming, and diving (up to 40m with the Oceanic+ app).
- Workout Buddy, offering AI-driven voice coaching during training.
Available in natural and black titanium, the Ultra 3 is built with 100% recycled materials and produced with Apple’s low-waste 3D printing process. Band options include refreshed Trail Loop, Alpine Loop, and Ocean Band designs, plus new luxury Hermès collaborations.
Pricing starts at $799, with pre-orders today and in-store availability on September 19. Satellite features will be free for two years.
Specifications
| Feature | Apple Watch SE 3 | Apple Watch Series 11 | Apple Watch Ultra 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $249 (GPS) / $299 (GPS + Cellular) | From $399 (GPS) / $499 (GPS + Cellular) | From $799 (GPS + Cellular) |
| Case Material | Aluminum | Aluminum | Titanium |
| Colors | Starlight, Midnight | Starlight, Midnight, Silver, (Product)RED | Natural Titanium |
| Sizes | 44mm / 40mm | 45mm / 41mm | 49mm |
| Display | Retina, OLED, LTPO | Always-On Retina, OLED, LTPO | Always-On Retina, OLED, LTPO |
| Brightness | Up to 1000 nits | Up to 2000 nits | Up to 3000 nits |
| Glass | Ion-X | Ion-X (Aluminum models) | Sapphire front |
| Chip | S10 SiP, 64-bit dual-core, 4-core Neural Engine, 64GB storage | S10 SiP, 64-bit dual-core, 4-core Neural Engine, 64GB storage | S10 SiP, 64-bit dual-core, 4-core Neural Engine, 64GB storage |
| Health Sensors | Optical HR (2nd-gen), Temp sensor | ECG, Blood Oxygen, 3rd-gen Optical HR, Temp sensor, Sleep apnea notifications | ECG, Blood Oxygen, 3rd-gen Optical HR, Temp sensor, Sleep apnea notifications |
| Durability | Swimproof (50m) | Swimproof (50m), Dust-resistant (IP6X), Crack-resistant glass | Swimproof (100m), MIL-STD 810H, EN13319 dive-certified, Dust-resistant (IP6X) |
| Battery Life | Up to 18 hrs (normal), up to 32 hrs (Low Power Mode) | Up to 24 hrs (normal), up to 60 hrs (Low Power Mode) | Up to 36 hrs (normal), up to 72 hrs (Low Power Mode) |
| Charging | Fast charge: 0–80% in ~45 min | Fast charge: 0–80% in ~45 min | Fast charge: 0–80% in ~45 min |
| Connectivity | GPS + Cellular, Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC | GPS + Cellular, Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC | GPS (dual-frequency) + Cellular, Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC |
| Safety Features | Fall Detection, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS, Intl. emergency calling | Fall Detection, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS, Intl. emergency calling | Fall Detection, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS, Intl. emergency calling, Backtrack |
| Operating System | watchOS 26 | watchOS 26 | watchOS 26 |
| Storage | 64GB | 64GB | 64GB |
| Compatibility | iPhone 11 or later with iOS 26 | iPhone 11 or later with iOS 26 | iPhone 11 or later with iOS 26 |
watchOS 26
All three new models run watchOS 26, which introduces Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence, redesigned watch faces, live translation in Messages, a revamped Notes app, and smarter Smart Stack widgets.
The update will roll out on September 15 for Series 6 and later, SE (2nd generation and later), and all Ultra models, paired with iPhone 11 or newer.
Apple’s Wearables Strategy Comes Into Focus
Apple’s 2025 Apple Watch lineup is a clear statement about where the company sees wearables heading. Each model serves a distinct audience: SE 3 for accessibility and family-friendly entry, Series 11 for the mainstream user balancing health and connectivity, and Ultra 3 for professionals and athletes pushing their limits.
The unifying thread across all three is Apple’s increasing push into preventive health and safety. Hypertension alerts, sleep scoring, and sleep apnea detection are not just incremental features; they represent Apple’s ambition to turn the wrist into a personal health dashboard that can surface conditions often missed in routine medical checkups.
Equally notable is the hardware-software synergy. By pairing new silicon (S10 chip), more durable displays, and satellite connectivity with watchOS 26’s AI coaching and smarter integrations, Apple continues to lean on its ecosystem advantage — making each device feel like part of a larger health, fitness, and communication network rather than a standalone gadget.
If there’s a trade-off, it’s that Apple is now more aggressively segmenting the lineup, making the choice between SE, Series, and Ultra less about size or style and more about lifestyle fit. For buyers, that means Apple Watch is no longer one product in three variants, it’s three distinct products, each optimized for a specific use case.
As the smartwatch market matures, Apple’s 2025 strategy may well be the blueprint: instead of chasing novelty, refine the essentials, double down on health, and make the watch indispensable to daily life.
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