Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) were launched at the Cupertino company’s ‘Far Out’ launch event today. The latest smartwatch series from the tech giant features is the ninth iteration in the company’s smartwatch lineup. The smartwatch will be available in GPS and Cellular models. The company also unveiled the second generation of the Apple Watch SE as a successor to the affordable model that launched in 2020. The new Apple smartwatches will be available starting September 16.
Apple Watch Series 8, Watch SE (2nd Generation) price, availability
Apple Watch Series 8 GPS price starts at $399 (roughly Rs. 31,800). In India, it starts priced at Rs. 45,900. The Watch Series 8 cellular model has been unveiled with a starting price of $499 (roughly Rs. 39,800). The smartwatch series will be available in Midnight, Silver, Starlight, and Red colour options. With the purchase of Apple Watch Series 8, the company is also offering free subscription to Fitness+ for three months. The smartwatch can be ordered today, and will be available starting September 16.
Meanwhile Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) pricing starts at $249 (roughly Rs. 19,800) for the GPS model, and $299 (roughly Rs. 23,800) for the cellular model. In India, the GPS model starts priced at Rs. 29,900. The watch will be available in Midnight, Silver, and Starlight colour options starting September 16, and can be ordered today.
The Cupertino tech giant is yet to reveal India pricing and availability of Apple Watch Series 8 and SE (2nd Generation). The smartwatches will go on sale in the US on September 16.
For reference, the Apple Watch Series 7 went on sale in India for a starting price of Rs. 41,900. The Apple Watch Series 7 cellular price in India was set at Rs. 50,900 for the 41mm size option.
The 45mm size option of the Apple Watch Series 7 GPS was priced at Rs. 44,900, and the same size option for the Watch Series 7 GPS + Cellular was priced at Rs. 53,900.
Apple Watch Series 8 specifications
Apple Watch Series 8 comes in GPS and cellular options. Like the Watch Series 7, the latest smartwatch series retains the always-on display (AoD) feature. It is equipped with an updated design with a larger display compared to the previous generation.
The new Apple Watch Series 8 features a new temperature sensor that enables female wearers to track their ovulation cycles. It now offers a suite of advanced ovulation tracking, and Apple says that the information collected is stored encrypted on the device and protected with end-to-end encryption.
Like the Watch Series 7, the new smartwatch lineup from Apple also sports a slew of health and fitness-related features. It gets blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) tracking, enabled by the built-in Blood Oxygen sensor. It also features heart rate monitoring, atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection, and electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring.
The Cupertino tech giant claims that the Apple Watch Series 8 offers up to 18 hours of all day battery life. The new smartwatch also gets a low power mode that increases the battery life that offers up to 36 hours of battery life on full charge. It also provides faster charging support, according to the company.
Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) specifications
The Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) is equipped with a Retina OLED display that is 30 percent larger than its predecessor that was launched in 2020. The new smartwatch is also equipped with a faster S8 processor, which Apple claims is 20 percent faster than the S5 chipset on the older model.
According to Apple, the new Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) is equipped with health monitoring features, including ECG and blood oxygen level monitoring. It will also offer the crash detection feature which is available on the Apple Watch Series 8 lineup.
The Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) will offer cellular connectivity, which will allow setting up the smartwatch with the company’s Family Setup feature, first introduced with the Apple Watch SE. It also features an optical heart rate sensor, fall detection, and an emergency SOS feature. The new Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) is water resistant up to 50 metres.
