Apple launched the Watch Series 9 at the ‘Wonderlust’ event alongside iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The carbon-neutral product comes in 41mm and 45mm display screen variants and succeeds the Watch Series 8 from last year’s ‘Far Out’ event. While the wearables share design similarities, the Watch Series 9 boasts significant upgrades in specifications. To compare the two, we have analyzed the differences and similarities between the two models.
Price
The Apple Watch Series 9 is available in two sizes, 41mm and 45mm, with options of aluminium or stainless steel construction. The 41mm aluminium model is priced at Rs. 41,900, while the stainless steel version costs Rs. 70,900.
For the 45mm display, the stainless steel model is priced at Rs. 75,900, while the aluminium version is listed at Rs. 44,900. The aluminium model of the Watch Series 9 is available in Midnight, Pink, (Product) Red, Starlight, and Silver colors, while the stainless steel model comes in Gold, Graphite, and Silver options.
In contrast, the Apple Watch Series 8 GPS was launched in India with a starting price of Rs. 45,900, while the Apple Watch Series 8 Cellular was priced at Rs. 55,900. Both models were available in 41mm and 45mm sizes, with color options including Gold, Graphite, Midnight, Red, Silver, and Starlight.
Specifications
The previous iteration of the Apple Watch, known as the Apple Watch Series 8, was introduced last year in both GPS and cellular variants. It is powered by the S8 SiP, which features a 64-bit dual-core processor, as well as the W3 wireless chip and a first-generation Ultra Wideband chip. On the other hand, the Apple Watch Series 9 boasts a 60 percent increase in speed compared to its predecessor. It is equipped with the new Apple S9 SiP process, which includes a second-generation Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip.
Both smartwatches feature an Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display with a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits. In terms of battery life, both the Watch Series 8 and Watch Series 9 are capable of providing up to 18 hours of usage, which can be extended to 36 hours in low power mode.
The Watch Series 9 introduces a “Double Tap” gesture that allows users to perform various actions, such as answering or ending a call, stopping a timer, or snoozing an alarm. It also offers integration with HomePod. Additionally, the Watch Series 9 includes cycling and hiking features, new watch faces, and mental health support 2. In comparison, the Watch Series 8 offers SpO2 tracking, heart rate monitoring, atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection, and ECG monitoring.
The Apple Watch Series 9 operates on watchOS 10, while the Apple Watch Series 8 was launched with watchOS 9. In terms of storage capacity, the latest model provides 64GB of storage, whereas the Watch Series 8 is available with 32GB of storage.
