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No New Apple Watch Chip for the First Time Ever: All Models Stick to S10

For the first time ever, the new Apple Watch lineup does not contain a new chip.

Apple Watch Ultra 3 hero 250909
The Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Series 11, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 all contain the S10 chip. Until now, every new Apple Watch generation featured a new S-series chip since the device's introduction.

Often, these chips were simply rebadged with few to no changes, with the same CPU used across chips. For example, the S6, S7, and S8 chips all shared the same CPU. Similarly, the S9 and S10 are essentially the same chip. The S10 was merely reduced in size to accommodate the smaller casing of the Apple Watch Series 10.

As a result, Apple sticking with the S10 chip for the Series 11 and Ultra 3 is not materially different to if it contained an "S11" chip as expected, and it looks like the company is simply holding off on that name for a more substantial change in the future. The S10 chip comes as the biggest upgrade to the Apple Watch SE, which previously had the S8.

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Top Rated Comments

fel10 Avatar
9 months ago
“This is our most powerful Apple Watches ever”
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
9 months ago
They've been largely the same chip for a few generations each time anyway.

I bet next year with the 2nm process, we will see some solid improvements in battery life.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ItsASpider Avatar
9 months ago
I mean... The S6, S7 and S8 were all the same chip, just with a different number printed on it, and the S9 and S10 already were too. If anything it is refreshing that they've stopped pretending that these watches get a new chip each year.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jpf293 Avatar
9 months ago
Seems like all that’s changed is the model number.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gengar Avatar
9 months ago
Well, it’s an upgrade for the Ultra, at least. The Ultra 2 only had an S9.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9 months ago
With the hypertension notifications being series 9+ and sleep score series 6+, there's not much point to this new watch.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)