Despite unveiling a more rugged and expensive Apple Watch Ultra on Wednesday, Apple also refreshed the ordinary Apple Watch lineup with its Apple Watch Series 8, which keeps the original design language going, albeit with some notable under the hood improvements when compared with its predecessor.
For those who aren’t using their Apple Watch to trek across the Sahara Desert, dive to new depths in Pacific Ocean, or hike the Amazon rain forest, the Apple Watch Series 8 will do you just fine and save you some money along with it. Follow along as we walk you through this wearable’s technical specifications.
Apple Watch Series 8 tech specs
Finishes
- Aluminum (GPS + Cellular)
- Midnight, Starlight, Silver, or (PRODUCT) RED
- Aluminum (GPS)
- Midnight, Starlight, Silver, or (PRODUCT) RED
- Stainless Steel
- Silver
- Gold
- Graphite
Chips
- Apple S8 chip with 64-bit dual core CPU
- Apple W3 wireless chip
- Apple UI ultra wideband chip
Case size & weight
- 41mm
- 41mm x 35mm x 10.7mm
- 32.0 grams (Aluminum, GPS, GPS + Cellular)
- 42.3 grams (Stainless Steel)
- 45mm
- 45mm x 38mm x 10.7mm
- 38.8 grams (Aluminum, GPS, GPS + Cellular)
- 51.5 grams (Stainless Steel)
Display
- 41mm
- 352 x 430 resolution
- 904 sq mm display area
- Always-on Retina LTPO OLED display with 1,000 nits brightness
- 45mm
- 396 x 484 resolution
- 1,143 sq mm display area
- Always-on Retina LTPO OLED display with 1,000 nits brightness
Features
- Compass
- L1 GPS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, and GLONASS
- Always-on altimeter
- Water-resistant up to 50 meters
- Blood oxygen sensor (requires blood oxygen app)
- Electrical heart sensor (requires ECG app)
- Third-generation optical heart sensor
- Temperature sensor
- International emergency calling
- Emergency SOS
- High-g Accelerometer with up to 256 g-forces with Fall Detection and Crash Detection
- Ambient light sensor
- High dynamic range gyroscope
- Speaker
- Microphone
- GymKit support
- Apple Pay support
- 32GB built-in storage (GPS, GPS + Cellular)
- Ceramic and sapphire crystal back (GPS, GPS + Cellular)
Connectivity
- LTE + UMTS (GPS + Cellular)
- Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz and 5GHz
- Bluetooth 5.0
Power
- Up to 18 hours of battery life with built-in, rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- USB-C magnetic fast charging cable
Conclusion
While the Apple Watch Series 8 isn’t quite as feature rich as the Apple Watch Ultra, that’s to be expected when you compare the price tags and the audiences Apple was trying to appease with these releases.
Also see: Apple Watch Ultra tech specs
The Apple Watch Series 8 is available from Apple’s website starting at $399 for aluminum models and $699 for stainless steel models.
Is this an upgrade you plan to make this year, or does the newer Apple Watch Ultra seem more appealing to you? Let us know in the comments section below.