The new Apple Watches have arrived—and they’re (figuratively) shinier than the one on your wrist. Leading the charge is the Series 11, Apple’s latest flagship model that strikes a balance between the budget-friendly Apple Watch SE 3 and the rugged, ultra-premium Apple Watch Ultra 3. While the Series 11 may look nearly identical to last year’s Series 10, it brings a notable upgrade with 5G cellular connectivity. But is that enough to justify an upgrade? Let’s break down what’s new and whether the Series 11 is worth the switch.
Price
There’s no change here. Just like the Series 10, the Series 11 starts at $399 for the aluminum 42mm GPS-only model. The 46mm size adds $30 to the price, and cellular adds $100, for a total of $529 if you want the biggest version with 5G. If you want to get really fancy, the titanium Series 11 is $699 for 42mm and $749 for 46mm, both of which are only available with 5G.
Winner: Tie
Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3 and SE 3: All the New Features!
Size
The physical size hasn’t changed between the Series 10 and Series 11. The small and large sizes are 42mm by 36mm (HW) and 46mm by 39mm, respectively. Both and just 9.7mm thick, making them the thinnest Apple Watches available.
Apple Watch Series 11 (Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
They weigh nearly the same; the 46mm Series 11 weighs only a gram or two more than the 46mm Series 10, and the difference between the 42mm models is tenths of a gram. If you can tell the difference by touch, I would genuinely be impressed.
Winner: Tie
Processor
The two watches are the same here, too. They both use the Apple S10 chip, which also drives the Apple Watch SE 3 and Apple Watch Ultra 3.
Winner: Tie
Display
Apple Watch Series 10 (Credit: Angela Moscaritolo)
You might be seeing a pattern here. Both watches have always-on LTPO3 OLEDs with 2,000 nits of peak brightness. The 42mm models have 374-by-446 screens with 989 square millimeters of display area, and the 46mm ones are 416 by 496 with 1,220mm^2.
Winner: Tie
Durability
Finally, the first difference! The aluminum Series 11 uses new Ion-X glass on its display, which Apple says is twice as resistant to scratches as the aluminum Series 10’s glass. Otherwise, they’re both water-resistant to 50 meters and IP6X dust-resistant, and the titanium versions of both watches use the same sapphire crystal instead of Ion-X glass.
Winner: Series 11
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Connectivity
Here’s the biggest change between the two smartwatches. The Series 11 generation is the first to use 5G for its cellular models. The Series 10 only has LTE, which the newer watch also has. Both models still have Wi-Fi 4, but the Series 11 is dual-band while the Series 10 is 2.4GHz-only. Besides those changes, the wireless toolkits are identical between the watches: Bluetooth 5.3, L1 GPS, NFC for Apple Pay, and second-generation ultra-wideband for precise location tracking.
Winner: Series 11
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Fitness and Health
Apple Watch Series 11 (Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
Both the Series 11 and Series 10 are incredibly well-equipped devices for health and fitness. They both have heart rate monitoring, ECG, sleep tracking with sleep apnea notifications, and plenty of workout features. They both have blood oxygen monitoring, too, now that the feature has returned to Apple Watches. Apple unveiled hypertension notifications when it announced the Series 11, but it works using the optical heart sensor and will be enabled on the Series 10.
Winner: Tie
Battery Life
On paper, the Series 11 can last longer with a stated battery life of up to 24 hours compared with the Series 10’s 18. Apple has been low-balling its battery estimates for a while, though, and in our testing, the Series 10 lasted nearly 36 hours. The Series 11 might last even longer, or it might only hit Apple’s own number, or even fall short. We won’t know until we test it. Still, based on Apple’s claims and the two watches’ very similar hardware, I’d bet at least pocket change that the Series 11 will meet or beat the Series 10’s time.
Winner: Series 11
Should You Replace Your Series 10?
We’ll have definitive buying advice once we review the Series 11, but on paper, it doesn’t look like a significant jump over the Series 10. It has 5G and its battery might last longer, but those are the most notable changes.
On the other hand, if you’re still wearing an Apple Watch Series 9 or older, now’s the perfect time to upgrade to a slimmer and much better-equipped model.
This article was published by WTVG on 2025-09-10 13:16:00
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