Today's Apple "Awe Dropping" event was packed with tons of announcements, and since it was a hardware-centric event, the tech community remained hooked on the iPhone 17 series and what this year's models would be bringing about. While Apple introduced its flagship lineup, it also announced some major upgrades for its smartwatch category. Along with the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Apple Watch Ultra 3, we also saw the third generation of Apple Watch SE, the company's budget wearable. The model has not been updated since 2022, so while the update was overdue, the improvements that Apple brought about make it worth the wait, especially given how it does not take a toll on your budget.
Apple Watch SE 3 finally arrives with S10 chip, always-on display, watchOS 26, and a budget-friendly price
While the attention today remained on the Series 11 and the Ultra Watch 3, the SE 3 also seems to be a strong contender in the company's wearable category, especially keeping in view the improvements Apple has brought about this year for the new model without the premium price tag being attached. The new model comes with the S10 chip, which helps drastically improve speed and responsiveness. With the help of this upgrade, there would be other advancements as well, such as on-device Siri processing, double-tap gesture control, and more space for apps and media storage.
For the time being, the SE lineup now comes with an Always-On Retina display, so you have all the needed information available at a single glance. While speculations hinted at a plastic case option, it seems like the tech giant did not experiment with this and maintained the durability of the model by sticking to the aluminum build. Since the SE model is the affordable alternative, it does not come with the more advanced health sensors, but it does include the important health tracking features such as sleep monitoring, respiratory details, heart tracking, and even the addition of sleep apnea detection. Safety features such as crash detection and fall detection have also been added.
Since the Apple Watch SE 3 comes with watchOS 26, it offers the redesigned Liquid Glass UI, upgraded Smart Stack widgets, and the AI-powered Workout Buddy. More wrist gesture control has also been added, allowing for a more intuitive experience. Given the affordable price tag of $249 for the 40mm model, the Apple Watch SE 3 is the tech giant's most accessible wearable, especially with improvements in performance and the core health features it offers, and is set to launch on September 19th. The SE 3 would also have a larger 44 mm size model, offering both starlight color and midnight aluminium cases.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
