The Apple Watch SE line doesn’t get updated as much as the more expensive main lines. Despite the fact we called the Apple Watch SE 2 “the best for most people” when it debuted in 2022, it didn’t get a new version last year: previously, there was a two-year gap between new models, instead of an annual release.
With that two-year gap in mind, 2024 is likely to be the year of the Apple Watch SE 3. It’s expected to be a much bigger update than we saw in 2022, too: it may have a lower price than before, thanks to a largely plastic casing. Apple may be able to pass it off as an injection of fun and affordability, rather than the class being drained out of the Watch SE series. Apple may also introduce slightly larger casings to accommodate a bigger screen. On the other
If all this is true, the rumored SE 3 will be the biggest change so far for the Apple Watch SE series. Here’s a run-down on the latest rumors and leaks, infused with some of our own thoughts, having covered the best Apple Watches since the series began in 2015.
Apple Watch SE 3 vs SE 2: Price and Availability
Apple will likely announce the Watch SE 3 on September 9, alongside the iPhone 16 family, the Apple Watch Series 10, and possibly a set of new AirPods. This would leave a two-year gap between it and its predecessor, the Apple Watch SE 2. Apple has already officially announced a launch event is happening on this date.
The aim will be to make the Watch SE 3 even cheaper than the watch it replaces, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
He even hints in the report linked above that the price may reach as low as $199, in order to compete with Samsung’s recent Galaxy Watch FE. The Apple Watch SE 2 currently starts at $249, but a brand new, up-to-date Apple Watch for under $200 sounds almost too good to be true, and it would certainly be a tempting proposition to many prospective users from Apple.
Apple Watch SE 3 vs SE 2: Design
The Apple Watch SE 3 may represent a more interesting design refresh than either the Watch Series 10 or the rumored Watch Ultra 3. For one thing, as previously mentioned, it’s thought to have a plastic casing rather than an aluminium one. This may seem like a downgrade, and it arguably is from a hardness and specs perspective – but is likely intended to open up the Apple Watch to a new audience looking for a lower-priced wearable. It seems Apple has Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 series in its sights.
Plastic may be used to increase the color options for the Watch SE 3. And if Apple uses a coloured plastic rather than a layer of paint, there’s no reason these watches should age any worse than the aluminium ones.
Your initial assumption might be these casings will be far easier to damage than metal ones, but our experience with the best Garmin watches says otherwise. Most Garmin watches still have plastic “resin” or polymer shells that are extremely hardy, and many of those watches are designed for more adventurous types than the Watch SE 3’s typical audience.
There are even suggestions the Watch SE3 will be aimed partially at kids, making the price drop all the more strategic. Our editor-at-large Lance Ulanoff recently mentioned this rumor on the TechRadar podcast, embedded below.
Despite the use of (potentially fun, but potentially cheap-looking) plastic, the watch may otherwise be an aesthetic upgrade, thanks to a slimming of the borders we’ve seen in the standard Apple Watch in recent generations. A cheap Apple Watch the same size as the 41mm mainline, with a bigger screen? We can dream.
Apple Watch SE 3 vs SE 2: Display
The Apple Watch SE 2 comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes. This is expected to jump to 41mm and 45mm in order to incorporate larger displays.
We saw the same jump in the standard Apple Watch family in 2021, with the Series 7. This also suggests the screen may jump to (up to) 1.9 inches from 1.78 inches. The Apple Watch SE 2 is based on older parts from the Apple Watch Series 6, so if Apple bases the next iteration on the Apple Watch Series 8, we can expect an increase in screen size.
This change doesn’t ruin the separation between the SE and the standard Apple Watch, because we’re expecting a major change this year in that area too. There’s reportedly a 49mm Watch Series 10, but we’ll know for sure during the event.
We’re not persuading Apple need to do much more in this update. The Watch SE 2 already has 1000-nit brightness, enough to look fairly clear on a sunny day. And that’s just what the Watch Series 7 had — the step-up model the Watch SE 3’s upgrade appears to emulate. So, if you want a larger, cheaper watch, it might be worth hanging on until the iPhone event on 9 September to see if the upgrade will be worth it for you.
Apple Watch SE 3 vs SE 2: Features
There are a few feature candidates on the list for inclusion in the Watch SE 3. These break down into features present in the higher-end watches already, and ones likely coming to the Watch Series 10 this year. Dual-band GPS, ECG, blood oxygenation, sleep apnea (TBC) and blood pressure (TBC) are the key ones.
On one hand, it may make sense for Apple not to include any of these. They all require additional, or at least upgraded, hardware. And isn’t the goal this year to bolster the affordability of the wider Apple Watch family with this new model? Adding pricey new sensors and hardware seems detrimental to the SE line’s purpose of providing a cheaper way for people to start investing in Apple’s economy.
However, from a pure hardware perspective, it may make sense to upgrade the entire line-up with the additional heart rate sensor and red LEDs required for blood oxygen sensing. This could then also be used to unlock the ability to recognize signs of Sleep Apnea. Other companies have had this hardware in their cheaper watches for a long time, and it’s time Apple followed suit
There’s a big issue here too, though. Apple has had to disable blood oxygenation for Apple Watches in the US thanks a lawsuit raised by health tech company Masimo, which claims Apple infringed its patents in the creation of the blood oxygenation feature introduced in the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020.
What’s the conclusion? We don’t have one. Apple may put the sensor in the SE3 anyway, in anticipation of resuming service when (or if) the ban is overturned. But we’ll be watching out for the reveal at the launch. Added core features may be a suggestion Apple is feeling the pressure from its key rivals, not notably Samsung.
Apple Watch SE 3 vs SE 2: Performance and battery life
It’s typical for Apple Watch SE models to launch with the same processor as their higher-price contemporaries. The Watch SE 2 from 2022 had the same Apple S8 processor as that year’s Apple Watch Series 8, for example.
If this trend is to continue, and there’s no obvious reason for it not to, we can expect the Apple Watch SE3 to have the same chipset as the Series 10. This may be called the Apple S10, based on what the previous chipsets have been named.
One obvious opportunity for an upgrade here is in the NPU, or the "neural processing unit" responsible for the watch's smarts. The Apple Watch SE 3 will launch alongside the first proper public release of Apple Intelligence, the company’s big take on AI. NPUs are made specifically for the sorts of workloads involved in AI tasks.
There is already one of these NPUs in the Apple Watch SE2, a dual-core chipset. The Apple Watch Series 9 has a quad-core chipset. An eight-core layout would be the traditional next step, although the buzz term in this area of processing is not cores but TOPs. That stands for trillions of operations per second — and if that sounds like a lot, it’s because AI tasks will typically feature a whole lot of iterative processes.
Don’t expect your Apple Watch to suddenly be able to perform AI miracles, though. The Apple Intelligence roll-out is going slow and steady on Macs and iPhones, and it's unlikely Apple Watches will get any AI features this year.
It also seems unlikely this greater intelligence will also translate to a significant change in battery life. Apple’s usual “all-day battery life” with a quoted figure of 18 hours is what we expect to see. And there’s the Low Power mode, should you need it to last longer.
Early verdict: Upgrade or wait?
Our advice, if you’re looking to buy an SE 2, is to wait until the iPhone event next week to see if an SE 3 with these rumored features really does make an appearance. The Apple Watch SE 3 may not be a huge functional upgrade over the Apple Watch SE 2, but it could be quite an exciting one.
If the price is as low as we hope, it could open up the field to a new swathe of Apple Watch owners. And even if $50 extra doesn’t mean a huge amount, the Watch SE 3 could regain some of the flavor of not so much the iPhone SE, but Apple's other cheap version, the iPhone XR.
That 2018 phone brought affordability and also a sense of lightness and fun you don’t always get with Apple’s modern product lines. We hope a lighter, cheaper upgrade can do the same to the Apple Watch.
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