Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) were launched today at the Cupertino company’s ‘Far Out’ launch event. The tech giant’s latest smartwatch series marks 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 Apple Watch SE as the successor to the affordable model launched in 2020. The new Apple smartwatches will be available from September 16.
Apple Watch Series 8, Watch SE (2nd generation) price, availability
The price of Apple Watch Series 8 GPS starts at $399 (approximately Rs 31,800). Its price in India starts from Rs. 45,900. The Watch Series 8 cellular model has been unveiled with a starting price of $499 (approximately Rs.39,800). The smartwatch series will be available in Midnight, Silver, Starlight and Red color options. With the purchase of Apple Watch Series 8, the company is also offering a free subscription to Fitness+ for three months. The smartwatch can be ordered today and will be available starting September 16.
Meanwhile, the Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) price starts at $249 (approximately Rs 19,800) for the GPS model and $299 (approximately Rs 23,800) for the cellular model. In India, the price of the GPS model starts from Rs. 29,900. The watch will be available from 16 September in Midnight, Silver and Starlight color options and can be ordered today.
The Cupertino tech giant is yet to reveal the price and availability of Apple Watch Series 8 and SE (2nd generation) in India. The smartwatch will go on sale in the US from 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 41mm size option.
The 45mm size option of the Apple Watch Series 7 GPS is priced at Rs. 44,900, and the same size option for the Watch Series 7 GPS + Cellular is priced at Rs. 53,900.
Specifications of Apple Watch Series 8
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 bigger display than the previous generation.
The new Apple Watch Series 8 features a new temperature sensor that enables female wearers to track their ovulation cycle. It now offers a suite of advanced ovulation tracking, and Apple says the information collected is stored encrypted on the device and protected with end-to-end encryption.
Like the Watch Series 7, Apple’s new smartwatch lineup also sports health and fitness-related features. It achieves blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) tracking, enabled by the built-in blood oxygen sensor. It also includes heart rate monitoring, detection of atrial fibrillation (AFib), 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 which prolongs the battery life which gives up to 36 hours of battery life on a full charge. According to the company, it also provides fast charging support.
Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation) Specifications
Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) is equipped with a Retina OLED display which is 30 percent bigger than its predecessor which was launched in 2020. The new smartwatch is also equipped with a faster S8 processor, which Apple claims is 20 percent faster. S5 chipset on older models.
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 a crash detection feature that is available on the Apple Watch Series 8 lineup.
The Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) will offer cellular connectivity, which will allow the smartwatch to be set up with the company’s Family Setup feature, which was first introduced with the Apple Watch SE. It also has 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 meters.
