Apple to release Apple Watch Series 9 with slew of new features

Apple said Tuesday that it will put out the Series 9 of its smartwatch with a slew of new features later in the month.

The Apple Watch Series 9, which relies on the S9 SiP chip and will carry a $399 starting price, received its introduction alongside other upcoming products at Apple’s event in Cupertino, California. The tech giant said it will start marking the Apple Watch Series 9 available next Friday.

When consumers look at the Series 9 smartwatches, they will find Apple is adding a “Double Tap” gesture in October they can use to operate certain functions. It “controls the primary button in an app,” making things like hitting pause on a song or taking a phone call touch-free, according to the company. 

To utilize the feature, wearers will be able to “tap the index finger and thumb of their watch hand together twice quickly and conveniently to perform many of the most common actions” on the device, Apple said.

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The California-based company has also upped Siri’s capabilities on Apple Watch Series 9, giving it “on-device processing” and new health-related features. 

For the display, Apple has made it so that the Series 9 can reach up to 2000 nits of brightness for improved readability in sunny environments, the company said.

The smartwatch will also have Smart Stack for widgets, the ability to connect via Bluetooth to various cycling-related tools and track time spent in the daylight, among other things. Those will accompany WatchOS 10, according to Apple.

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Meanwhile, the tech giant made a major change to its watch bands, ending the use of leather and debuting microtwill FineWoven. That textile, which the company said is supposed to feel similar to suede, will get deployed in Magnetic Link and Modern Buckle options.

Customers “can choose a carbon neutral option” of any Apple Watch “for the first time,” the company said.

The Apple Watch Series 9, which offers a 41 mm and 45 mm size, has several color variations for aluminum casing, including starlight, midnight, silver, red and pink, Apple said. For stainless steel, consumers can choose from gold, silver or graphite.

Orders for the new Series 9 smartwatch opened Tuesday, according to the company.

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In addition to the Apple Watch Series 9, the tech giant revealed its iPhone 15, which took center state at Tuesday’s “Wonderlust” event. The pricing varies by model, with the iPhone 15 coming in at $799, the iPhone 15 Plus at $899, the iPhone 15 Pro at $999 and the iPhone 15 Pro Max at $1,299.

The second iteration of the Apple Watch Ultra was announced, too.