Apple Watch Series 4 FAQ
Jason Cross answers all your questions about the new Apple Watch
For the first time since its introduction in 2014, the Apple Watch has a new design – and this time it’s a bit more substantial than sticking a red dot on the Digital Crown. For the watch’s fourth generation, Apple has introduced a larger screen and a slightly bigger case, all while retaining the classic styling that made the Apple Watch a worldwide hit.
But the beauty of the new Apple Watch’s isn’t merely skin deep. Apple has updated nearly everything about the watch, inside and out. It’s a whole new generation: familiar, yet overhauled.
Specifications
Much as with previous Apple Watch releases, the Series 4 comes in two sizes. But while Series 0-4 measured 38mm for the smaller watch and 42mm for the larger (measured vertically), the new ones are each 2mm larger: 40- and 44mm.
The corners on Series 4’s case are also slightly more rounded, giving the watch a softer appearance. And the display area is much larger, with rounded corners that follow the contour of the case and smaller bezels.
At 10.7mm thick, the Series 4 is slightly thinner than the Series 2 and 3 (which measured 11.4mm), but it’s still just a tiny bit ticker than the original Apple Watch (10.5mm). It has the following other specs:
Processor: Apple S4 system-in-package (SIP) with 64-bit dual-core CPU Location: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS Heart sensors: Second-gen optical heart rate sensor, electrical heart sensor Other sensors: Improved accelerometer and gyroscope, ambient light sensor Water resistance: Up to 50 meters Display: LPTO OLED, 368x448 pixels (44mm); 324x394 pixels (40mm) Radios: Apple W3 wireless chip, 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 5.0, LTE and UMTS (in LTE models) Buttons and dials: New Digital Crown with haptic feedback, side button
Price
The Series 4 is more expensive than any previous standard-issue Apple Watch. These are the starting prices. Some bands like the Milanese Loop raise the price, as do special editions like the Hermès models. 40mm aluminium: £399 44mm aluminium: £429 40mm aluminium with cellular: £499 44mm aluminium with cellular: £529 40mm stainless steel with cellular: £699 44mm stainless steel with cellular: £749
S4 SIP
Apple’s new system-in-package (which combines the CPU, GPU, storage, RAM, and almost everything else) is called the S4. It’s a dual-core chip that Apple says is up
to twice as fast as the S3 found in the Series 3. It’s also, for the first time, a 64-bit chip. That probably doesn’t make much difference now, but it gives the watch a lot more longevity down the line.
We currently don’t know how much RAM is in the Series 4. The Series 0, 1, and 2 Watches had 512MB of RAM, while the Series 3 boosted that to 768MB. It’s a safe bet the Series 4 has at least 768MB, maybe more.
The Series 4 watches all have 16GB of storage. With the Series 3, you got 16GB in the LTE version but only 8GB in the Wi-Fi version.
Old bands
If you have Apple Watch bands for the earlier 38mm models, they will fit the new 40mm Apple Watch Series 4. The watch bands for the 42mm models fit the new 44mm Series 4.
Battery life
Apple says overall battery life is similar to that of the Series 3, which means you can expect around 18 hours. However, it should last about an hour longer when tracking outdoor activities with GPS, LTE, or music streaming.
New watch faces
No matter which Apple Watch you have, you get four new Apple Watch faces in the watchOS 5 update: Breathe, Fire & Water, Vapour, and Liquid Metal. On Series 1-3 Apple Watches, these faces are circular with room for complications in the upper corners. On the Series 4, they fill the entire display.
Because the Series 4 has larger displays, there’s room for more information, and Apple has added a couple of exclusive new watch faces that are especially information-dense. There’s the Infograph, which combines an analog watch face with room for eight complications, and Infograph Modular, an upgrade for the current Modular face that allows the large centre complication to show much more info.
The Series 4 also supports a new kind of complication that’s designed to go in the corner of round watch faces, which includes a curved line to represent data (like high and low daily temperatures or time remaining on a timer).
Colours
Like the new iPhone XSs, the Series 4 is now available in a gold colour in addition to silver and Space Grey.
Note that this isn’t the actual gold material that made some of the original Apple Watches sell for £17,000; it’s just a gold colour for the stainless steel or aluminium bodies.
The Series 3 is still available, but the gold aluminium model is gone – now you can only get it only in silver or Space Grey in either steel or aluminium. The full ceramic ‘Edition’ models have been discontinued across the board.
The Series 3 and 4 are both still available in Nike+ models, and the Series 4 is available in a Hermès edition (stainless steel only)