At its monumental special event hosted at the Steve Jobs Theater in California, Apple unleashed a slew of new products including the much-awaited iPhone 8, iPhone X, Apple TV 4K, and the latest Apple Watch Series 3. The #1 watch in the world now has optional cellular connectivity built-in, so it can operate without being tethered to your iPhone.
From being the second best-selling watch in the world last year, the Apple Watch posted a phenomenal 50% year-on-year growth last quarter to propel it to the #1 spot. Tim Cook, Apple CEO in his keynote address added that people love their Apple Watch, with an impressive 97% customer satisfaction rate.
The ultimate sports watch?
The Apple Watch Series 2 was a vast improvement from the original Apple Watch. The new generation Series 3 takes it several notches higher, featuring built-in GPS and a new barometric altimeter.
And you can do it untethered too, because it now has optional cellular connectivity via an electronic SIM (e-SIM) built-in. It features a full LTE and UMTS cellular radio.
The cool thing is, you can also take your music with you. Your favourite songs and playlists from Apple Music are synced to your watch and you can listen to them on the go. Later this fall, you’ll be able to stream music, direct from Apple Music. The new Radio app also lets you access Beats 1 live or any Apple Music radio stations, untethered from iPhone or Wi-Fi network.
To say the Apple Watch takes sports seriously is an understatement. It’s simply built for sport. You can track everything. From a casual run, to an intense ride, to laps at the pool. The new Workout App gives you the ability too track and analyse your workouts, and visualise your progress.
That’s not all, the watch nudges you when you need it, so you’ll always reach your set goals. Another way to stay motivated is when you bring the challenge to your friends. Share your workouts with friends, compete and cheer them on.
The watch also supports your favourite apps: Nike+ Run Club, YogaGlo, Xensr, they’re all there.
One interesting feature is that it has support for wheelchair users. It takes to account different pushing techniques and terrains to accurately record Activity metrics. There are two wheelchair-specific workouts built-in.
Let’s not forget, the Apple Watch is “swimproof” with a water resistance rating of up to 50 metres.
The Apple Watch experience is backed by several handy apps. There’s the Heart Rate app that tracks your heart rate throughout the day. An SOS app lets you quickly call for help in an emergency. And a Breathe App reminds you to take deep breaths. Additionally, there are new snowboarding and skiing apps.
The Health App on iPhone is your dashboard for all the data collected from your health and fitness apps. It makes sense of all the collected data and gives you insight on your current health and fitness levels.
A smartwatch isn’t complete without the ability to make phone calls, send and read messages, get reminders and notifications. The Apple Watch Series 3 does all this and more.
Under the hood, the Apple Watch Series 3 rocks a new dual-core S3 chip, and latest Apple W2 wireless chip, which is 50% more power efficient, and delivers 80% better Wi-Fi performance.
Thanks to the new processor, Siri is also now quicker and it’s able to speak via the built-in speaker.
Apple Watch Series 3 runs watchOS 4.
Pricing and availability
Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) starts at USD399/MYR1,672, while Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) starts at USD329/MYR1,379. Apple Watch Series 3 also debuts a special red Digital Corwn and exclusive “Explorer” watch face.
With the coming of the Series 3, Apple is killing the Series 2 while retaining the original Series 1 as its base model. The Series 1 starts at USD249/MYR1,043.
Apple Watch Edition in gray or white ceramic is available starting at USD1,299/MYR5,443.
Apple Series Watch 3 comes in silver, space black, space gray and new gold aluminium stainless steel cases. There are new band colours and styles including the new Woven Nylon, and lightweight Sport Loop.
Apple Watch Nike+ has been a popular model in the line-up, and the partnership continues with a Series 3 pairing with new pure platinum/black Nike Sport Band or Sport Loop. Prices start from USD329/MYR1,379.
Apple Watch Hermes starts at USD1,149/MYR4,815.
Availability
- Customers will be able to order Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) beginning Friday, 15 September, with availability beginning Friday, 22 September in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, the UK and the US, with other countries following next year. For carrier availability, visit apple.com/watch/cellular.
- Customers will be able to order Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) beginning Friday, 15 September, with availability beginning Friday, 22 September in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan,the UK, the US and US Virgin Islands. Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) will be available beginning Saturday, 23 September in UAE.
- Apple Watch Series 1 is available on apple.com and anywhere Apple Watch is sold.
- Apple Watch Nike+ will be available to order on apple.com beginning Friday, 15 September, with limited availability on Thursday, 5 October in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Macau, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, the UK and the US. For more information, visit apple.com/apple-watch-nike or nike.com/applewatch.
- Apple Watch Hermès will be available to order on combeginning Friday, 15 September, with availability beginning Friday, 22 September in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the US. For more information, visit apple.com/apple-watch-hermes or hermes.com/applewatchhermes.
- Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) will be available beginning Friday, 29 September in Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Guam, Hungary, Iceland, India, Jersey, Macau, Monaco, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Thailand and Turkey.
- Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) will be available beginning Saturday, 30 September in Kuwait, Qatarand Saudi Arabia.
- New Apple Watch bands are available today on Apple.com and will be available soon at Apple Stores, as well as select Apple Authorized Resellers and carriers in the US and over 35 countries and regions, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE and the UK.
