Apple Watch Series 12 vs. Apple Watch Series 11: Is it Worth Upgrading? - CNET

This year's new Apple Watch is impressive, but does it improve enough on last year's?

Apple unveiled a new lineup of devices at its Surprise and Shine event on Wednesday, including the new Apple Watch Series 12. But does it upgrade enough from last year’s Apple Watch Series 11?

The standard Apple Watch models offer robust functionality in a signature rectangular display with rounded corners, a futuristic yet style-agnostic design with leading hardware, software and health-tracking features. They don’t have the three-day battery life, extreme ruggedness or satellite connectivity that the new Apple Watch Ultra 4 has, but they also aren’t $799.

Unlike many other devices raising prices in the face of the memory shortage we’re calling RAMageddon, the Apple Watch Series 12 has the same $399 starting price as its predecessor. Still, you’ll probably be able to pick up an older Series 11 for cheaper during deals events.

The Apple Watch Series 12 has the same pricing structure as the Series 11, with its smaller 42mm size starting at $399 for the aluminum case (GPS only) and rising to $699 for titanium, though it also has a $799 ceramic option that its predecessor didn’t offer. Opting for cellular versions will raise the price, as will going for the larger 46mm size.

The Apple Watch Series 12 can be preordered now and ships on Sept. 18. The Apple Watch Series 11 is still widely available, though no longer from Apple.

The latest 42mm Apple Watch Series 12 is available for preorder at Best Buy for $399. If you have an older device, you can trade it in for a new one at a lower price. Every purchase also comes with up to four free months of Apple Fitness and three free months of Apple Music.

On the outside, the Apple Watch Series 12 is virtually identical to the Series 11, with a rectangular OLED Retina display (maxing out at 2,000 nits of brightness) rounding at the corners. There’s a rotating Digital Crown on the right side, with a button below it that provides a shortcut to the app selection screen. Both watches are rated for IP6X dust resistance and can be submerged in water down to 50 meters.

They have the same weights across the material and size configurations they share, from the lowest 42mm aluminum (32.2 grams) to the heaviest 46mm titanium (44.9 grams). But the Series 12 also comes in a ceramic case, last seen in the Apple Watch 5, which is around 10 grams heavier, from the 42mm in night blue color (41.7 grams) to the 46mm in the same hue (52.9 grams). If you want the silica-based material, expect your Apple Watch to be at least 25% heavier on your wrist.

The Apple Watches differ in colors, too. For the Series 12 in aluminum, there’s dark bronze, light gold, black and space gray; for titanium, radiant gold and natural; for ceramic, pearl white and night blue. For the Series 11 in aluminum, buyers can opt between jet black, rose gold or silver; for titanium, slate, gold or a natural finish.

The only other design difference between the two is that the Series 12 has rearranged the sensor array on the bottom of the smartwatch to enable better readings, which are also more frequent thanks to the upgraded hardware in the watch.

The two smartwatches have essentially identical designs and displays, so neither stands out in a way most people would appreciate beyond color choice.

A Sleep Score reading on the Apple Watch Series 11.

The Series 12 packs the S11 chip, new silicon that enables more AI features and far more frequent sensor readings on the smartwatch, taking the wearer’s heart rate every 5 seconds instead of 5 minutes on the watch’s predecessor. The Series 11’s S10 chip is still powerful, enabling several AI features, including some that will trickle down from its successor. Both watches have 64GB of onboard storage.

The watches have the same battery life as well. Apple doesn’t share capacities, but does expect users to get up to 24 hours of battery life with regular use, which can be extended up to 38 hours using Low Power mode, which disables some features like the always-on display to eke out more time. Using Apple’s fast charger, both watches can recharge from 0% to 80% in 30 minutes.

While we won’t know for sure until we test the devices, it’s possible that the Series 12’s newer S11 chip is more efficient for battery life, but that might be balanced by the extra drain for some of its AI features.

While the watches are seemingly even on battery life (at least on paper) and storage capacity, the Series 12’s silicon is more advanced and enables more AI features, so it edges out the Series 11 in terms of specs.

While the Series 12 comes with WatchOS 27, the Series 11 will be able to upgrade to that version as soon as it publicly launches. Apple’s latest smartwatch OS update comes with more features and a revamped Siri AI for more informative and accurate responses.

The big new software feature coming in the Series 12 (and enabled by the S11 chip) is Audio Intelligence, which listens in on conversations around the wearer to transcribe the last 15 seconds of chatter in a feature called Rewind, or to give high-level summaries of longer conversations in a feature called Siri Recap. While this has already raised privacy concerns, Apple says that none of the conversations are stored, and whatever is processed in the cloud can’t be accessed by the company or anyone else.

The revised sensor array on the Series 12 enables more frequent heart rate readings that power a new Readiness score, which puts a metric on how your body is recovering. Depending on your sleep, activity and other vitals, the score ranks how ready your body is for strenuous activity like a tough workout.

The Series 11 still has plenty of advanced software features, like 5G support, high blood pressure alerts approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, improved sleep tracking and an array of tracked health and fitness metrics.

The Series 12 has a clear advantage over its predecessor in terms of AI and software, but its extra features are situational and health-related. The Series 11 will serve you just fine for many other tasks, but it’s worth considering that the Series 12’s newer chip will almost certainly make it eligible for later WatchOS updates and features than the older Apple Watch.

Currently, these Apple Watch models have the same $399 starting price — you can’t even buy the older Series 11 on Apple’s online store, so it’s clearly been replaced. At the same price, there’s no reason to pick up last year’s model, and you should opt for the Series 12 instead.

But if you find a Series 11 on sale during a deals event like Black Friday, it’s worth considering it over the newer model. It still has nearly every health- and fitness-tracking feature on the newer model, and there aren’t any significant design upgrades on the Series 12 — everything improved is internal, with the exception of the revamped sensor array on the watch’s underside.