Apple at its annual event today launched the third edition of the Apple Watch. The biggest highlight of the Apple Watch 3 is that it comes with built-in cellular connectivity. It is priced at $399 for watch with cellular connectivity and $329 without it. It will be available from September 22 and the pre-orders for the watch will start from September 15.
The Series 1 will remain available at a lower cost at $249. It will be offered in two new colours – gold and a special Black ceramic. The original Apple Watch was announced in September 2014 and released in April 2015, while its follow up was announced and released in September 2016, alongside the iPhone 7.
The smartwatch comes with cellular connectivity through an embedded SIM (or eSIM) It is a built-in SIM card embedded into the device’s board. The cellular feature will help you to take calls and remain connected to the internet when it is not connected to a Wi-Fi network or paired to a smartphone. You’ll also be able to make phone calls with your iPhone’s number.
The new watch also features a barometer to count the number of stairs you’ve climbed during your day and it will also come with Apple Music streaming. Apple Watch 3 will now let you stream music directly through the watch. As per Apple, you can stream 40 million songs on your wrist. Apple promises up to 18 hours of battery life.
The Apple Watch 3 features heart rate sensor which let you know the heart rate on the watch itself. Apple Watch can also detect arrhythmia when your heart beats irregularly. There is also elevated heart rate detection which alerts you when you are at rest but your heartbeat is up. Apple also announced the Apple Heart Study, which uses data from Apple Watch and can notify users. The study has been approved by the FDA.
The new smartwatch is powered by a Dual-Core Processor offering 70% more performance. A new wireless chip, the W2 enables 85% better Wi-Fi performance with lower power usage. The new generation of Apple Watch will come with watchOS 4 announced at the WWDC earlier this year. Also, for the first time for the Watch series, the Siri on the new Watch can now talk, with the dual-core processor. In terms of design, the new watch is the same physical size as the Series 2.