Apple has launched a new Apple Watch SE, which Apple says will bring many of the new features of the Series 8 (including Crash Detection) and a number of improvements compared to the previous generation. It is also 20% faster than the previous generation. Prices starts at $249/£259 for the GPS and $299/£319 for cellular.
Apple has also launched a new Apple Watch Series 8 and the Apple Watch Ultra. Read more in our dedicated articles. If you are trying to choose the best Apple Watch for you read: Best Apple Watch: Which Apple Watch to buy.
Release date: When will the new Apple Watch SE launch
The Apple Watch SE for 2022 (which we’ll refer to as the SE 2) will be available to pre-order today (September 7, 2022) and will start shipping on Friday, September 16.
Apple Watch SE Pricing
The Apple Watch SE 2 will cost from $249/£259 for the GPS model and $299/£319 for the cellular model. Prices will increase depending on whether you choose the 41mm or 45mm version and the straps or bands chosen.
- The Solo Loop and Sport Loop versions start at $249/£259
- The Braided Solo Loop will push the starting price to $299/£309
What’s new? How the Apple Watch SE compares
Want to know how the Apple Watch SE compares to the older SE and the Series 8? Here’s what you need to know:
Design changes
To look at there is no real difference between the SE 1 that launched in 2020 and SE 2 for 2022. If you were hoping for a brand new design be prepared to be disappointed. It’s still made from aluminium and the screen size is the same as before – 40mm or 44mm (if you want a bigger screen you need to look to the Apple Watch Series 8 which offers 41mm or 45mm or the Apple Watch Ultra for 49mm).
There are new colours on offer: Midnight, Starlight and Silver.
Previously the Apple Watch SE came in Silver, Gold or Space Gray.
In contrast the Apple Watch Series 8 comes in Aluminium or Stainless Steel. Midnight, Starlight, Silver and Product RED for the alumnium and Gold, Graphite, Silver, Space Black for Stainless Steel.
Features
Apple
The new Apple Watch SE2 gains some, but not all of the features of the Apple Watch Series 8. It also gains a few new features that weren’t found on the first generation model.
Like Apple Watch Series 8 the SE2 will offer crash detection. The accelerometer is used to detect an impact. If it detects that you have been in a severe car crash it will alert emergency services, providing location information, and notify your loved ones if you have added them as emergency contacts.
Features shared with the Apple Watch 8 include:
- 100 nits brightness
- High and low heart rate and irregular rhythm notifications
- Fall detection
- Crash detection
- Compass Backtrack and redesigned compass app
- 18 hour battery – a low power mode to extend battery life
- L1 GPS
- W3 wireless chip
Features the Apple Watch SE doesn’t get:
- No Always-On display
- ECG app
- Blood Oxygen app
- Temperature sensing
- Ovulation estimates
- Fast charge
- U1 chip for ultra wideband
Specs
Like the Apple Watch Series 8, the Apple Watch SE 2022 features a S8 SiP. ,This is 20% faster than the processor in the Apple Watch SE from 2020, but we can assume that it isn’t much faster than the S7 chip used in the Apple Watch 7 as Apple hasn’t highlighted any comparisons with that chip.
Watch the September 7 event
Apple unveiled the new Apple Watch SE at the iPhone launch on September 7. You can watch the event below:
The rumors
Here’s what we had heard about the Apple Watch SE before the launch. See what actually transpired and what might be coming next time round.
An upgraded Apple Watch SE was exptected. Back in February 2022 Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote that he expects a new SE to launch alongside the Apple Watch Series 8, but that’s not all – he also expects to see an Apple Watch Pro for sports enthusiasts. We expect to see these three watches launch at the same time as the new iPhone 14.
Gurman has also predicted that the Apple Watch Series 3 will be discontinued, which is no surprise given the fact that the Apple Watch 3 won’t even be able to run the new watchOS 9.
Price
If the Apple Watch 3 is discontinued the Apple Watch SE 2 will become the new entry-level Apple Watch. Does this mean it will get a price drop? The Apple Watch Series 3 currently sells for $199/£179 for the 38mm model or $229/£209 for the 42mm model. In contract the Apple Watch SE (GPS model) sells for $279/£249 for the 40mm model, or $309/£279 for the 44mm model.
If Apple stops selling the $199/£179 model it would be a surprise if it also raised the price of the Apple Watch SE, and yet like the iPhone SE, the next Apple Watch SE might have a higher price. This is according to LeaksApplePro (writing for iDropNews) who claims Apple will bump the price of the Apple Watch SE to $299. So you might have to pay even more for the cheapest Apple Watch than you did before, unless Apple continues to sell the older Apple Watch SE…
If you don’t want to wait for the new version to arrive, be sure to check out our roundup of the best Apple Watch deals to see if you can grab a bargain.
Design & Size
When the Apple Watch SE (2020) was introduced it offered two options for display size – 44mm and 40mm – which meant it had around 30% more acreage than the Apple Watch Series 3 that came in 38mm or 42mm varieties. This is great, but also meant that it lagged behind the Series 7 which sported 45mm or 41mm panels, an increase of 20% over the SE.
If you were hoping for a larger screen prepare to be disappointed: LeaksApplePro says the Apple Watch SE 2 will come in the same sizes (40mm and 44mm).
Don’t expect a new design either.
Specs and features
There’s been little in the way of substantiated leaks when it comes to the Apple Watch SE 2 (2022). However, we have seen reports suggesting that the new Apple Watch SE 2 will get a new chip, better sensors and an always on display. Read on to find out more…
Sensor upgrades
The Apple Watch SE (2020) already boasts an impressive array of onboard sensors that track your heart rate, activity and sleep, as well as detecting falls and potentially damaging levels of noise in your environment.
For the second generation it is rumored that the Apple Watch SE will gain an optical heart sensor and an electrical heart sensor (ECG). That’s according to a report on iDropNews by LeaksApple Pro.
There are also reports that Apple will be adding a temperature sensor in its next iteration of Apple Watches (for tracking ovulation or detecting fevers), however, this may only be destined for the Apple Watch Series 8.
Always on display
One complaint about the Apple Watch SE (and any Apple Watch prior to the introduction of the feature with the Apple Watch Series 5) is the fact that the Apple Watch doesn’t display the time constantly – you have to raise your arm to wake the display up.
The Apple Watch SE 2022 model may gain an Always On display (according to LeaksApplePro, again!)
New processor
One of the standard upgrades Apple usually employs with new models is to move to a new processor for a bump in speed and performance. The Apple Watch SE (2020) comes with the same S5 SiP as the Apple Watch Series 5 so you might assume that the new Apple Watch SE for 2022 would move to the S6 SiP that previously came in the Apple Watch Series 6. However, rumors are suggesting that the Apple Watch SE 2022 will feature the same S8 SiP as the Apple Watch Series 8 is expected to get.
Before you assume that’s a huge processor jump, the bad news is that the S8 is thought to be little more than a renamed S7, which was not that different to the S6, but it will be an improvement nonetheless.
Author: Karen Haslam, Editor
Macworld editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld almost two decades ago.
Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Her focus is Mac, but she lives and breathes Apple.