Apple has unveiled its 2022 smartwatch line-up. While we were expecting the Apple Watch Series 8 and new SE version, we weren’t expecting the Apple Watch Ultra. It has 36-hour battery life, has a beefy 49mm titanium case and boasts the brightest and largest screen featured on an Apple wearable. While that’s impressive, the now mid-tier Apple Watch Series 8 is nothing to scoff it – here’s everything you need to know about the new range.
CEO Tim Cook started the Apple Watch presentation running through the letters he’s received from customers who use the company’s smartwatch, which was strange, but you do you. It was testimony, basically, from people who had found themselves in emergency situations their Apple Watch helped them out of. It therefore came as no surprise that this year, Apple is focusing on health, fitness and safety. With the new range, it’s clear Apple is going after companies like Garmin and Casio, and even Samsung.
2022 Apple Watch range
The 2022 Apple Watch range includes the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 8 and the Apple Watch SE. The Apple Watch Ulta is the company’s most rugged, capable Apple Watch yet, the Series 8 boasts crash detection and a temperature sensor that enables new women’s health features and the SE provides more features at a more affordable price.
Apple Watch Series 8
The new Apple Watch Series 8 boasts a large, Always-On Retina display and a strong crack-resistant front crystal. Apple said you’ll get an 18-hour battery life out of the new smartwatch. It comes with a number of health and safety features such as the ECG app and fall detection, introducing temperature-sensing capabilities including retrospective ovulation estimates, and Crash Detection.
It’s available in both 41mm and 45mm sizes.
Siri, tell me when I’m ovulating
The Apple Watch Series 8 features new temperature-sensing capabilities that the company touts as giving women further insights into their health. Announcing the new features during its Far Out event this morning, Apple called them “advanced cycle tracking” capabilities. The TL;DR is that by utilising the new temperature-sensing capabilities in Apple Watch Series 8, you can now receive retrospective ovulation estimates.
There’s one temperature sensor on the back (the part that touches your skin) and another just under the display that Apple said improves accuracy by reducing bias from the outside environment. The sensors in Apple Watch Series 8 sample the wrist temperature during sleep every five seconds and measure changes as small as 0.1° C. In the Health app, you can see nightly shifts in baseline temperature, which can be caused by things such as exercise, jet lag. Users of this cycle-tracking feature will receive notifications if their logged cycle history shows a possible deviation, such as irregular, infrequent or prolonged periods and persistent spotting.
Your Apple Watch will know if you’ve been in a car accident
Last year, we tested fall detection (accidentally), and this year, Apple has built on this capability with Crash Detection. Crash Detection that’s self-explanatory. The Series 8 includes a redesigned three-axis accelerometer that’s paired with a new high G-force sensor that can measure impacts generating as much as 256Gs. Data from both of those new sensors is collected 3,000 times every second and is processed by custom algorithms to detect the impact of a severe crash and then automatically notify emergency services with info on the user’s location, while other emergency contacts, specified in the Apple Watch app, will be notified as well.
To create the algorithm, data was collected from these new motion sensors (at professional crash test labs). Crash Detection uses the barometer, GPS and the microphone on iPhone as inputs to detect the patterns that can indicate whether a severe crash has taken place.
The Apple Watch Series 8 also boasts a new Low Power Mode that can extend battery life to reach up to 36 hours. Low Power Mode will temporarily disable (or limit) select sensors and features, including the Always-On Retina display, workout autostart and heart health notifications.
Apple Watch Ultra
The Apple Watch Ultra is officially the largest Apple Watch to date with a beefy 49mm titanium case and with the brightest and largest screen featured on an Apple wearable yet. Said screen is protected by sapphire glass and also boasts a night mode with a high-contrast but monochrome red-on-black effect, ideal for adventures at night when users won’t want to throw off their night vision.
It offers up to 36 hours of battery life from a single charge.
Apple Watch SE
The SE is touted as the perfect way to “get started with an Apple Watch”. You’ll get the core Apple Watch experience, including Activity tracking, high and low heart rate notifications and Emergency SOS, as well as the new Crash Detection feature. It comes in both 40mm and 44mm sizes.
WatchOS 9
Many of the software updates coming to Apple’s popular wearable are designed to take better advantage of the larger screens introduced in recent models, but they also include improvements to the Apple Watch’s already impressive health and fitness tracking capabilities. Back in June at Apple’s Developer Conference, we got a glimpse of the new software the 2022 Watch range will ship with.
Apple Watch Australian pricing and availability
Apple Watch Ultra cost
The Apple Watch Ultra will be available beginning Friday, 16 September for $1,299 RRP.
Apple Watch Series 8 cost
The Apple Watch Series 8 will be available beginning Friday, 16 September.
- The 41mm model will cost $629 RRP for the GPS version
- The 41mm model will cost $789 RRP for the cellular version
- The 45mm model will cost $679 RRP for the GPS version
- The 45mm model will cost $839 RRP for the cellular version
Apple Watch SE cost
The Apple Watch Series 8 will be available beginning Friday, 16 September.
Standard Loop
- The 40mm model will cost $399 RRP for the GPS version
- The 40mm model will cost $479 RRP for the cellular version
- The 44mm model will cost $449 RRP for the GPS version
- The 44mm model will cost $529 RRP for the cellular version
Braided Solo Loop
- The 40mm model will cost $479 RRP for the GPS version
- The 40mm model will cost $559 RRP for the cellular version
- The 44mm model will cost $529 RRP for the GPS version
- The 44mm model will cost $609 RRP for the cellular version
Head over here to check out everything Apple announced at its ‘Far Out’ iPhone 14 event.
This article has been updated since it was first published.