What You Should Know About the Brand New Apple Watch Series 6

Apple just wrapped up their presentation of the new Apple Watch Series 6. As expected, the highlight of the new watch is the addition of blood oxygen tracking. But, there are some other things as well. Since this is such a popular device for both travel and running, it is definitely something we will look at (I have already bought one to review).

The New Apple Watch Series 6

Link: New Apple Watch Series 6

1. There Are TWO New Apple Watch Models

This is something we already talked about as well but Apple also released a cheaper Apple Watch model, the Apple Watch SE. This one is made with some cheaper components (older processor, etc) but does have the same extended display size that came out with the Apple Watch Series 4.

This model will sell at a starting price of $279 and will be available in regular GPS models as well as cellular.

The star of the show, the Apple Watch Series 6, will keep its same standard starting price of $399 and will be available in various case materials and GPS or GPS/Cellular models.

Finally, as a small surprise, Apple is keeping the Series 3 in the lineup at the regular price of $199.

2. New Colors for the Apple Watch Series 6

This year, Apple introduced a new Blue casing and a new Red casing to the Apple Watch. This is a first time for both and they are both only available in the aluminum material casing.

I will be very curious to see how both models old up to scratching and such. I kind of like the blue but went for the old space gray model instead.

3. Blood Oxygen Sensor and Readings for the Apple Watch Series 6

Yes, this was the big part of the announcement and here is how it will work. Similar to the ECG app, there will be a blood oxygen app that will take 15 seconds to give you a reading on what your current blood oxygen level is. They will also do background monitoring of it during the night.

This should help it to not take that big of a hit on the battery life since it is not doing all day monitoring but only periodic updates. Similar to the ECG, your results can be seen in the Health app.

4. Always On Display 2X Brighter

Apple introduced the Always On Display last year and now it is 2.5x brighter than before. This will help a lot more during outdoor use, but will likely take a hit on the battery (more on that in a bit).

5. Apple Watch Series 6 Has an Always on Altimeter

For those that like to do any climbing, you can now track your current elevation and, depending on implementation, this should also figure in with the blood oxygen calculation to help you better understand your readings.

6. Better VO2 Max Tracking

Apple has updated the system for tracking your VO2 Max, an important metric for athletes on blood efficiency. This is good news as I had noticed that it was not as similar to what I was getting with various other watches when I had the Apple Watch Series 4.

Also, they are using a new Low Cardio Fitness alert to let you know when that number drops a bit. This is a nice way to remind you to stay fit and in shape.

7. The Apple Watch Does Not Come with a Power Charger

Only Apple can make the removal of an item or feature sound like it is something good for the end-user. 🙂 This time, they said it is better for the environment to not include that. While it is true that those little Apple power chargers are all over the place, they could have just said what is likely the real truth – eliminating that helped to keep the price at the same levels as before.

I know this – I never used that power block anyway. Especially since it has wireless charging, it is easy to charge without needing that power block so not a huge loss but I cannot help but dig at Apple for how they justified it. 🙂

8. What The Apple Watch Series 6 DOES Not Have

Ok, here are some things they did not mention so will assume the watches do not have any of this.

• No increased battery life
• No fast charging capability
• The LTE models still only provide regular cellular capability in the country it was purchased in
• No increased customization for running metrics in the Workout App (though they did update the Workout app for other workouts)

9. New Bands and New Faces

There are plenty of new bands and new faces for the watch so definitely check those out at this Apple page. This isn’t something that is of a huge interest to many readers here so I will let you just view it here. 🙂

10. Family Use of Apple Watch

Now, they have setup a new system to allow for children or older family members without iPhones to use Apple Watch. It comes with alerts for parents as well as things like the school time use so it does not provide distraction to the child during school. It can also be used to locate the child and update the parent on activities (it needs the LTE model for the location uses).

11. On Sale Now with Availability September 18

That pretty much says it all – you can order now for delivery or pickup on September 18. I would guess the blue will be incredibly popular so definitely get your order in if that is something you are looking for.