Series 9

2023 GENERATION IMPROVEMENTS, UPDATES, AND NEW FEATURES

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Apple has once again raised the bar with its latest smartwatches: the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Apple Watch Series 9. The smartwatches may be incremental upgrades, but they're shipped with the powerful new S9 SiP and feature the magical double-tap gesture, meaning your next watch will be an indispensable companion for health, fitness, and everyday life.

APPLE WATCH ULTRA 2: RUGGED SOPHISTICATION

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a marvel of engineering, designed for those who demand the best performance and durability. It's powered by Apple's all-new S9 SiP, which brings systemwide improvements and new features like on-device Siri and a 4-core Neural Engine that can process machine learning tasks up to twice as fast as its predecessor. It might look identical to the first generation, and rumors of new colorways turned out to be incorrect, but it's still a model worth considering buying.

One of the most exciting features of this year's Ultra is the new double-tap gesture. This allows users to control the watch with one hand, without touching the display. A double tap of the index finger and thumb together can perform many common actions, such as stopping a timer or answering a phone call. This feature is enabled by the faster Neural Engine, which uses a new machine learning algorithm to detect the unique signature of tiny wrist movements. Apple has come into some criticism, however, for repacking an already-existing accessibility shortcut into a headline feature of this year's watches.