Apple’s September 15th event just ended and they left us with the brand new Apple
Watch Series 6, and the absolute most important question people have on their minds is if
they should actually upgrade to it, because it’s available to order right now!
The answer is actually different depending on which Apple Watch you currently own and
how important the new features they introduced are to you. Now Apple also released the Apple
Watch SE, but we’ll leave that for another video.
So before we go ahead and answer the original question, let me quickly go through everything
Apple announced about the Apple Watch Series 6.
The biggest change is the new finishes, and this time, we have 3 of them, blue aluminum,
product Red aluminum, and Graphite stainless steel, and we actually ordered the Red model,
so subscribe right now if you want to see that.
There’s also a couple of new bands, which are very interesting this year.
There’s the new Solo loop band that lacks any type of clasp or buckle, it’s simply
one piece that you stretch and slip over your wrist, and Apple actually has you print out
a template that you can wrap around your wrist so you can order the perfect size for your
band.
There’s also a totally unique braided solo loop band which is made out of Yarn with silicon
threads to keep it stretchy, so we’re excited to get our hands on that.
Apple did mention some new watch faces including the GMT face, the chronograph Pro face, the
Art face, the new Memoji face and more, but it seems like those Faces are available on
all Apple Watches that support WatchOS 7, which is available tomorrow.
By far the biggest new feature of the Series 6 is the new Blood Oxygen sensor, which uses
infrared light to measure your blood oxygen levels.
You can use it by going into the new Blood Oxygen app and taking a 15 second measurement,
but what’s really great is that it actually takes background readings every once in a
while so it can warn you if your blood oxygen levels are low, and it even works while you
sleep, which is a huge deal for those with sleep issues.
There’s also the new S6 chip which is said to be more energy efficient and 20% faster
than the previous S5 chip.
This is gonna help balance out the battery life because a pretty huge feature this year
is that the always-on display is now 2.5X brighter when outdoors, which was one of our
biggest issues with the Series 5 Apple Watch.
And then there’s also the new Oximeter sensor which detects elevation, which can be useful
for hiking.
Now apart from what Apple mentioned, there are a couple of spec differences as well.
The new Apple Watch Series 6 can now connect to the 5GHz wifi band instead of being previously
limited to only 2.4GHz.
One hidden gem is that the Series 6 comes with the U1 Ultraband chip built in, and I
have a feeling Apple is gonna announce some great features with that at next month’s
event where they’ll probably announce the AirTags.
Apple is still rating the battery life as the same 18 hours, even though the new S6
chip is more efficient, probably because of the brighter always-on display.
But the main downside this year is that every new Apple Watch is no longer shipping with
a power adapter in the box, so you have to pay an extra $19 if you want to add that to
your purchase.
And there you go, that’s every single change with the Apple Watch Series 6, and now let’s
answer the original question of whether you should upgrade or not.
Like I said before, it depends on which Watch you own right now, so I’m gonna split them
into two different groups.
The Series 4 and the Series 5 and in one group, because they have the updated design with
the curved display and they have processors which are noticeably faster than the older
ones.
They also have the updated sensors which not only look awesome but they work better than
the ones on the older watch models.
And they also have the ECG feature which is pretty cool since it’s already been detecting
heart issues in people’s hearts.
And the fall detection has actually saved lives as well, so props to Apple for all of
these changes.
But between the Series 4 and 5, the only real difference that was noticeable apart from
the storage upgrade was the always-on display, and to some people, that difference was enough
to upgrade to the 5.
And obviously, there are more important differences this year, but in reality, if you already
have one of those two newer Apple Watches, your experience won’t change that much unless
one of those new features is very very important to you.
For example, if blood oxygen monitoring is something your health requires, then you should
absolutely upgrade to the Series 6 from even the Series 5.
Or if the new Wifi improvements or the new altimeter are a big deal to you.
Or if you think there’s great potential in the U1 chip and you don’t want to have
an Apple device without it.
If those things are important to you, then it will definitely be worth the upgrade.
Now if those things don’t really matter, I also don’t think that the processor upgrade
itself is gonna be worth it coming from the Series 4 or the 5 because those already felt
very quick and snappy.
The display is gonna look basically the same, and the battery life isn’t gonna be drastically
different, but the brighter always-on display could be a huge deal for you.
But if you just want an Apple Watch for fitness or working out, then the Series 6 won’t
really make much of a difference.
And keep in mind that the Series 4 and 5 still support the same new bands, they support the
same new watch faces and they even support the new Family Setup feature, so that an Apple
Watch can be used without an iPhone being connected.
So from a bang for the buck perspective, I would probably just keep your Series 4 or
5 for another year to see what Apple has to offer in the future, especially if they get
glucose monitoring working.
Now if you still have the Apple Watch Series 3 or older, then congratulations for waiting
so long because now is probably the perfect time to upgrade.
It’s got a great curved display, the sensors are now updated and packed with a ton of great
features, and you will notice a massive difference going from one of those older Watches to the
new Series 6, so it’s definitely worth upgrading.
Now one thing to keep in mind is that if blood glucose monitoring is important to you, or
any of the other rumored features, and you’re totally happy with your current watch, then
it may be a good idea to just wait.
And if you’re still unsure on whether you should upgrade, we already ordered both the
Series 6 and the SE and we’ll be doing a full comparison as soon as we get it in, so
go ahead and click that circle above to subscribe so you don’t miss out on that video. Thanks
for watching, and we’ll see you in the next video!