Apple’s Watch Series 6 comes with blood-oxygen monitoring, a faster processor than the Series 5, and many other features. Get the specs, pricing, and more details about Apple’s latest smartwatch.
Image: Apple
Apple rolled out its Apple Watch Series 6 on September 15, 2020 during its Time Flies event with a new health sensor that enables blood-oxygen monitoring and is “the most colorful lineup ever,” Apple COO Jeff Williams said. The health sensor shines red and infrared lights to calculate the color of a person’s blood, which indicates blood-oxygen level, in 15 seconds. It also captures periodic background readings and stores them while you sleep, Williams said.
This Apple Watch Series 6 cheat sheet includes details about additional features in the smartwatch, specs, pricing information, and much more. This article will be updated if there is new information from Apple about the Watch Series 6.
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What is the Apple Watch Series 6?
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The Apple Watch Series 6 is the successor to 2019’s high-end Series 5 Watch with a faster processor and enhanced health and design features. It comes with hardware improvements, including a faster S6 System in Package (SiP), watchOS 7, and next-generation always-on altimeter. There are also new options for Apple Watch finishes and bands.
The bulk of the core features and specs are the same as Apple Watch Series 5, but there are some notable changes. For specifics, read TechRepublic’s comparison of the Apple Watch Series 5 and the Watch Series 6.
What are the key features of the Apple Watch Series 6?
The most notable feature of the Apple Watch Series 6 is the blood-oxygen sensor. This is a particularly timely feature because pulse oximeters have been in high demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The watch’s operating system, watchOS 7, is powered with Apple’s new S6 silicon chip, and it has a dual-core processor that touts up to 20% faster performance. Apple reports that the Watch Series 6 maintains its 18-hour battery life.
The Apple Watch Series 6 offers a number of other health and fitness features including sleep tracking, automatic hand-washing detection, new workout types, and an overall focus on customers’ well-being.
Image: Apple
Users can take on-demand measurements when they are still, and the watch will also do periodic background measurements while they are inactive, including during sleep. All data will be visible in the health app, Apple said; for instance, a user will be able to track trends over time to see how their blood-oxygen level changes.
The Apple Watch Series 6 has an always-on altimeter setting so a user can see elevation changes on a hike, for example, in real time. Users can measure their blood-oxygen saturation, which represents how much oxygen is carried by red blood cells from the lungs to the rest of the body, from the watch wherever they are. The Apple Watch Series 6 also features an ECG app that the company said can generate an ECG similar to an electrocardiogram.
Apple is partnering with health networks and research universities to perform various studies, including testing to determine if someone has been infected with COVID-19 and to understand how blood-oxygen levels and other metrics can help manage heart failure.
What is Family Setup?
Apple debuted a new Family Setup feature so parents can set up managed Apple watches for children and other family members who don’t have iPhones. Parents can also manage which contacts their kids can communicate with and set up location alerts, as well as a do-not-disturb mode when they are in school.
In addition, watchOS 7 offers features for older adults, such as a simplified on-boarding and configuration process and an extra-large watch face to display the time.
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Specs for the Apple Watch Series 6
- Processor: S6 chip System in Package (SiP), a new dual-core processor based on the A13 Bionic chip
- Design: U1 chip and Ultra Wideband antennas
- Operating system: watchOS 7
- Sizes: 40mm, 44mm
- Battery life: 18 hours
- Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
- Music storage: 36 GB
- Sensors: ECG, SpO2, heart rate, altimeter
What are the color, bands, and display options for the Apple Watch Series 6?
The Apple Watch Series 6 will be offered in Blue, Gold, Graphite, and Apple Watch Product Red aluminum case options.
Apple also announced a new waterproof “Solo Loop” strap that is made from a stretchable, continuous piece of silicone that can be slipped on and off without any buckles or adjustments. It is available in a range of styles and seven colors. The watch also comes in a braided Solo Loop strap made from yarn and is available in five colors.
Another option is a new leather link strap with flexible molded magnets.
Numerals can be displayed in three ways. The Apple Watch Series 6 also comes with seven new watch face options, including Stripes, Chronograph Pro, GMT, and Artist. For instance, users could select from emoji faces that move and react to touch; or, the striped faces could be matched to what someone is wearing or to represent a favorite team. There are also watch faces for people interested in various activities such as surfing and photography. There is a watch face that displays multiple time zones at the same time.
SEE: All of TechRepublic’s cheat sheets and smart person’s guides
Is the Apple Watch Series 6 eco-friendly?
During the Sept. 15 event, Apple employees discussed how eco-friendly both the company and the watch are not just in terms of energy usage but in the materials that are used. The Apple Watch Series 6 is made with 100% recycled tungsten and does not contain these harmful chemicals: BFR, PVB, beryllium, or mercury. Also, the Apple Watch Series 6 is made with arsenic-free glass.
One significant change is that Apple is removing the USB power adapter from the Apple Watch, according to Lisa Jackson, Apple’s VP of environment, policy, and social initiatives.
The Apple Watch Series 6 has an energy-efficient design so when someone is outdoors the display can be read even in the sun. Plus, it is 2.5 times brighter than the Apple Watch Series 5.
Details about how Apple and the Watch Series 6 are environmentally friendly (slide is from Apple’s Sept. 2020 event).
Image: Screenshot by Mary Weilage/TechRepublic
What is Apple One?
The company is bundling some of its services under a new plan called Apple One. There are three tiers for the subscription service:
- An individual plan comes with iCloud, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and Apple TV+ and starts at $14.95 per month;
- a family plan costs $19.99 per month and can be shared with up to five family members; and
- the premier subscription service costs $29.95 per month and includes these services plus news and fitness subscriptions and increases storage to 2 TB.
The new service is available this fall on a 30-days free trial basis. For more details, read sister site CNET’s article on 3 big questions that need to be answered about the Apple One subscription bundle.
What is Apple’s Fitness+ service?
Apple will roll out a new subscription-based service called Fitness+ later this year for use with the Apple Watch. Fitness+ offers 10 types of virtual workouts, music, and improved fitness tracking features. Many of the workouts require dumbbells or no equipment at all. Each week a new, wide variety of workouts will be delivered.
The service was “designed with privacy in mind,” and nothing is stored, the company said.
Fitness+ is $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. The first three months are free.
SEE: 5 Apple Watch apps to simplify your workday (TechRepublic)
What is the price for an Apple Watch Series 6?
The Apple Watch Series 6 starts at $399 (GPS) and $499 (GPS + Cellular).
In tandem with the Apple Watch Series 6 announcement, Apple said it has also created the Apple Watch SE model, which comes with the same features as last year’s Watch Series 5 and retails for a more affordable price that starts at $279.
The Apple Watch Series 3 is still available for $199.
For more details, read this comparison of the Apple Watch Series 6 vs. Watch Series 3 and Watch SE.
When and where can I buy an Apple Watch Series 6?
Apple Watch Series 6 (GPS) is available to preorder now from Apple.com, in the Apple Store app, and from retail stores, including Best Buy, Target, Amazon, and B&H. It will be available to purchase beginning Friday, September 18, 2020 in the US, Puerto Rico, and 27 other countries and regions.
The cellular version (GPS + Cellular) of the Apple Watch Series 6 is available to order now from Apple.com and in the Apple Store app, with availability beginning Friday, September 18, 2020 n the US, Puerto Rico, and 21 other countries and regions. For carrier availability and details about which countries and regions it’s available, visit apple.com/watch/cellular.
If you have an older Apple Watch model and plan to upgrade to the Series 6, learn about options for selling, trading in, donating, or recycling your current Apple Watch.
What are the top alternatives to the Apple Watch Series 6?
If you don’t want to be tied to Apple’s smartwatch ecosystem and don’t need to read iMessages from your wrist, there are other options. Here are three alternatives to the Apple Watch Series 6.
One high-end option is the Fitbit Sense, which retails for $329. The Fitbit Sense comes with tools for stress management, heart health, SpO2, skin temperature, among others. Fitbit was the original fitness- and activity-tracking smart band company, launching its first product in 2009.
Another Apple Watch alternative is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. Its features include sleep tracking, advanced workout tracking, an above-average battery life, and an ECG sensor to diagnose atrial fibrillation. The Galaxy Watch 3 costs $399.
The Garmin vivomove HR, which starts at $199.99, offers wellness monitoring tools, such as all-day stress tracking and a relaxation timer. The watch also includes advanced sleep monitoring with REM sleep. The vivomove HR also displays steps, calories, distance, heart rate, intensity minutes, and VO2 max.
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