Apple has announced the Apple Watch Series 5, debuting an Always-On Retina display, making it easier to see the time and other important info without having to raise or tap the screen.
New location features, from a built-in compass to current elevation, help users better navigate their day, while international emergency calling allows customers to call emergency services directly from the smartwatch over 150 countries, even without an iPhone nearby.
The Apple Watch Series 5 is available in a wider range of materials, including aluminum, stainless steel, ceramic and an all-new titanium. Combined with the power of watchOS 6, users are empowered to take charge of their health and fitness with new features like Cycle Tracking, the Noise app and Activity Trends, according to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer.
With the Apple Watch Series 5, each watch face has been optimized for the new Always-On Retina display. To preserve battery life, the screen intelligently dims when a user’s wrist is down and returns to full brightness with a raise or a tap.
Williams says that several technologies work together to deliver this new feature, including what he says is the industry’s only low-temperature polysilicone and oxide display (LTPO), ultra-low power display driver, power management integrated circuit and new ambient light sensor. This combination of hardware innovation and software design purportedly allows Apple Watch Series 5 to offer all-day 18-hour battery life.
Updated location features on Apple Watch Series 5 provide customers with greater navigation tools to use throughout the day. A new built-in compass and updated Maps app allow users to see which way they’re facing. With the Apple Watch Series 5, customers can use the new Compass app to see heading, incline, latitude, longitude and current elevation. Users can even add one of three new Compass complications to their watch face to see direction at a glance.
For added personal safety while traveling, users with cellular models of Apple Watch Series 5 can now complete international calls to emergency services, regardless of where the device was originally purchased or if the cellular plan has been activated. International emergency calling also works with fall detection, if enabled, to automatically place an emergency call if Apple Watch senses the user has taken a hard fall and remains motionless for about a minute.
Additional health and fitness features come with watchOS 6 (due Sept. 19), including the new Cycle Tracking app, which gives customers the ability to log important information related to their menstrual cycles, and see predicted timing for their next period and fertile windows using the convenience of Apple Watch.
The Noise app is designed to help users understand the ambient sound levels in environments such as concerts and sporting events that could negatively impact hearing. Activity Trends on the iPhone provides a long-term view of their activity patterns to help them understand their progress. watchOS 6 also brings dynamic new watch faces, including Meridian, Modular Compact and Solar Dial, which can be easily customized for quicker access to favorite apps.
What’s more, Apple is introducing a new case material made of titanium, a prized material in watchmaking that the company says has “superb” strength-to-weight ratio and is lighter than stainless steel. Available in two brushed finishes, the natural titanium has a custom-engineered surface designed to help maintain its color and resist staining, while the space black titanium achieves its deep color from a diamond-like coating (DLC).
Classic styles like the stainless steel case in gold, silver and space black remain, while the aluminum case in silver, gold and space gray is now made for the first time from 100% recycled 7000 series aluminum. This fall, the scratch-resistant, white ceramic case will be available, along with a new sport loop and a range of new band colors that work with any generation of Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch Nike features a new watch face inspired by the classic Nike Windrunner jacket design, accompanied by new colors of the Nike Sport Band and reflective Nike Sport Loop. Apple Watch Hermès introduces several new styles, including an update to last fall’s popular color block band, now in a new Della Cavalleria print, and an all-black version with an exclusive Hermès gradient watch face.
The Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS) starts at $399 and Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS + Cellular) starts at $499. The Series 3 (GPS), with built-in GPS, optical heart rate sensor and water resistance, starts at a new low price of $199 and Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) is $299.
The Apple Watch Nike is available to order today from apple.com and in the Apple Store app, with availability beginning Friday, Oct. 4, in the US, Puerto Rico and more than 51 other countries and regions. For more information, visit apple.com/apple-watch-nike or nike.com/applewatch.
