Apple has officially unveiled its latest wearable. The Apple Watch Series 9 made its debut onstage at today’s Wonderlust event in Cupertino. The new smartwatch is powered by the new S9 chip, which the company claims is 60% faster, coupled with a 30% faster GPU.
WatchOS 10 offers the new Name Drop feature, which allows users to share personal information when close to another user with the device. Ultra Wideband brings more interoperability with the HomePod, as well as FindMy functionality.
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The display gets up to 2,000 nits brightness and will drop as low as a single nit. The new Siri health feature, meanwhile, lets users get health updates via voice. That’s powered, in part, by the updated neural engine, which Apple says is able to transcribe text up to 25% faster than the S8 chip.
Image Credits: Apple
Double Tap is one of the more interesting features this time out. It’s a new input system baked into the chip that detects small movements and blood flow when the user taps their index finger and thumb together. With the new input, users can perform activities like answer a call or turn off an alarm. It will arrive next month.
Image Credits: Apple
In keeping with Apple’s push to hit sustainability goals, the company says the device is their “first ever carbon neutral” product, owing to more recycled components (including cobalt), improved packaging and its purchasing of “high-quality” carbon credits.
The Series 9 will be available in starlight, silver, midnight, Product Red and a new color — pink. The Watch starts at $399. Preorder starts today and it starts shipping on September 22.
