Apple Watch Series 9 vs. Series 10 Buyer's Guide: 18 Upgrades Compared

The Apple Watch Series 10 is now available for pre-order. The latest models feature 18 upgrades over their predecessors, so here's everything that's changed.

Apple Watch Series 9 vs Series 10 Buyers Guide 2 Mock
Apple's latest Apple Watch models bring range of small improvements along with the first design refresh in three years. Some of the most significant hardware changes include new display technologies, water temperature and depth sensing, and a reengineered metal back that allows for faster charging.

But beyond these headline features, how much of an improvement does the ‌Apple Watch Series 10‌ really offer? This guide breaks down the differences between the Series 9 and ‌Series 10 models to help you understand all of the changes and determine whether these enhancements are enough to justify making the switch from a Series 9‌.

Apple Watch Series 9 Apple Watch Series 10
Same design as Apple Watch Series 7 and Apple Watch Series 8 Refined design with a thinner casing, display with more rounded edges and a wider aspect ratio, and front glass that extends further over the sides for a higher screen-to-body ratio
41mm and 45mm casing size options 42mm and 46mm casing size options
Available with aluminum or stainless steel casing Available with aluminum or titanium casing
Aluminum: Available in anodized Silver, Starlight, Midnight, Pink, and (PRODUCT)RED finishes
Stainless Steel: Available in polished Silver, Gold, and Graphite finishes
Aluminum: Available in anodized Silver and Rose Gold, and polished Jet Black finishes
Titanium: Available in polished Silver (matches previous stainless steel casing, Apple Watch Hermès only), Gold, Slate, and Natural finishes
Ceramic and sapphire crystal back Metal back with larger charging coil and integrated antenna
41mm: 1.69-inch display
45mm: 1.9-inch display
42mm: 1.89-inch display
46mm: 2.04-inch display
LTPO OLED Always-On Retina display LTPO3 OLED Always-On Retina display (faster refresh rate in always-on mode, enabling a live ticking seconds hand on select watch faces)
Wide-angle OLED (up to 40% brighter when viewed at an angle)
Flux and Reflections watch faces, optimized for the larger display and faster refresh rate
S9 chip More compact S10 chip
Body temperature sensor Body and water temperature sensor
Depth gauge to 6m
Depth app
Oceanic+ app for snorkelling (available on the App Store)
Microphone Microphone with voice isolation
Single, elongated speaker hole Redesigned speaker with individual holes
Speaker Speaker with media playback
Fast charging (0–80% in 45 minutes) Faster charging (0–80% in about 30 minutes)

Dimensions

The Series 10 introduces slight increases in height and width, resulting in a marginally larger screen-to-body ratio. However, the depth is significantly reduced by over 9%, making the Series 10 noticeably thinner. Despite the larger case sizes, the Series 10 is lighter across both aluminium GPS and GPS + Cellular models.

Apple Watch Series 9 Apple Watch Series 10
Height 41mm: 41mm
45mm: 45mm
42mm: 42mm (+2.44%)
46mm: 46mm (+2.22%)
Width 41mm: 35mm
45mm: 38mm
42mm: 36mm (+2.86%)
46mm: 39mm (+2.63%)
Depth 41mm: 10.7mm
45mm: 10.7mm
42mm: 9.7mm (-9.35%)
46mm: 9.7mm (-9.35%)
Weight (aluminium, GPS) 41mm: 31.9g
45mm: 38.7g
42mm: 30g (-5.96%)
46mm: 36.4g (-5.95%)
Weight (aluminium, GPS + Cellular) 41mm: 32.1g
45mm: 39.0g
42mm: 29.3g (-8.72%)
46mm: 35.3g (-9.49%)

Release Date

The Apple Watch Series 10 is now available for pre-order, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.

Is It Worth Upgrading?

The Apple Watch Series 10 brings several enhancements over the Series 9, but for most users, the differences are incremental. The thinner and lighter design is an improvement, but it doesn't fundamentally alter the device's overall appearance or experience. The slightly larger display and wide-angle OLED, while improving readability, isn't a drastic change.

The improved speaker and microphone on the Series 10 are also worth noting as minor upgrades. The new speaker can playback media for the first time and the microphone now features voice isolation, improving call clarity in noisy environments.

One of the more significant changes is the faster charging. The Series 10 charges to 80% in around 30 minutes, compared to 45 minutes for the Series 9, which could be a noteworthy improvement for users who frequently need quick charges. Additionally, the Series 10 introduces new finishes, including a polished Jet Black aluminum and polished titanium options, offering a more premium aesthetic.

While the Series 10 does bring some useful upgrades, like water depth and temperature sensing, faster charging and improved audio quality, most of these enhancements feel like refinements rather than essential upgrades. Unless you're particularly drawn to the refreshed design and display improvements, the faster charging, new water features, or the speaker and microphone improvements, it's hard to justify upgrading from the Series 9. For most users, the differences won't significantly impact their daily use, making the Series 10 an upgrade only for those with very specific needs or preferences.

Those with a much older Apple Watch will have much better reason to upgrade, with the improvements of successive Apple Watch generations, such as body temperature sensing and the Double Tap gesture, stacking up for a more substantial overall difference.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Latest iPhone 17 Series CAD Images in Line With Redesign Rumors

Friday February 28, 2025 2:51 am PST by
Apple is expected to embrace a new camera system design for some models in its upcoming iPhone 17 series, and the latest purported CAD images don't deviate from what we have been hearing lately about Apple's new lineup. If you do not like the sound of an iPhone with a Google Pixel-style camera bar, look away now. Seasoned leaker Sonny Dickson shared the following images in a post on X...
iphone 16e usb c feature

Apple Provides Reason for iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe

Friday February 28, 2025 4:39 am PST by
Apple has offered a reason why the iPhone 16e doesn't include MagSafe, one of the more notable omissions from its latest entry-level smartphone. According to Apple representatives who spoke to Daring Fireball's John Gruber, MagSafe is not included in the iPhone 16e because "most people in the iPhone 16e's target audience exclusively charge their phones by plugging them into a charging...
apple intelligence black

These New Apple Intelligence Features Are Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday February 28, 2025 3:17 pm PST by
iOS 18.4 was supposed to bring new Apple Intelligence Siri features, but Apple ended up needing to pull those capabilities from the update to continue testing. There are fewer new Apple Intelligence additions now, but there are still some new features that will make the update worth installing when it comes out in April. Priority Notifications Apple introduced Priority Notifications back at ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Rumored to Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Saturday March 1, 2025 11:00 am PST by
iOS 19 is still around three months away from being unveiled, but there are plenty of rumors about the upcoming update. Below, we recap iOS 19 rumors so far. Redesigned Camera App A leak earlier this year allegedly revealed a redesigned Camera app coming with iOS 19. On his YouTube channel Front Page Tech in January, Jon Prosser shared a video showing what the new Camera app will...
cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
apple c1

How Fast is Apple's First-Ever 5G Modem? The Results Are Surprising

Friday February 28, 2025 10:08 am PST by
iPhone 16e reviews are now out, and Apple's custom-designed C1 modem has been put to the test. The results so far are quite surprising, as the C1's speeds are not as slow compared to Qualcomm modems as originally expected. While the C1 does not support ultra-fast mmWave 5G in the U.S., it appears to offer comparable 5G performance to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X71 modem found in the iPhone 16,...

Top Rated Comments

Motawa Avatar
26 weeks ago
Who writes this? You list the 2 new health features as features but then you go „well actually it’s not gonna happen this year“

And what „fresh design“ there is no design refresh, it’s just bigger
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johannnn Avatar
26 weeks ago
Wait I thought the rumors was it would be thinner? But now it will go from 10.7mm depth to 11.6mm depth?
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Javah Avatar
26 weeks ago
I don't understand why Apple is making the watch larger. The 46mm model is too big for most female wrists. My wife will be upgrading to an apple watch 9 41mm or an SE of there is a 41mm because the 46mm model is just to big.

I am curious about the sales numbers when they are released.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Victor Mortimer Avatar
26 weeks ago
Seriously? 46 and 49?

Ugh. And my 45mm 7 is too big, I was considering upgrading to a 41mm.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfzen21 Avatar
26 weeks ago

Wait I thought the rumors was it would be thinner? But now it will go from 10.7mm depth to 11.6mm depth?
I think when they say depth they actually mean width and when they say width they actually mean length ?‍?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Roberto1234 Avatar
26 weeks ago
Wow, i am speechless. One of the worst Apple watch updates ever. I am still on my AW 4 and will be for a long time. I think Apple stopped innovation since Covid. Most of their workers are chilling in home office.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)