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PRESS RELEASE 13 September 2023

Apple introduces the advanced new Apple Watch Series 9

Featuring breakthrough capabilities for the world’s most popular watch and Apple’s first carbon neutral products
Two Apple Watch Series 9 devices are shown with a motion blur effect against a black background.
Apple Watch Series 9 brings new capabilities to the world’s best-selling watch while achieving a significant environmental milestone.
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today introduced Apple Watch Series 9, bringing new features to the world’s best-selling watch and achieving a significant environmental milestone. Apple Watch Series 9 is more powerful than ever with the new S9 SiP, which increases performance and capabilities; a magical new double tap gesture; a brighter display; Precision Finding for iPhone; and more. Apple Watch Series 9 runs watchOS 10, which delivers redesigned apps, the new Smart Stack, new watch faces, new cycling and hiking features, and tools to support mental health.
For the first time, customers can choose a carbon neutral option of any Apple Watch, representing a significant milestone toward Apple 2030: Apple’s plan to be carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030.
The new Apple Watch lineup can be ordered today, with availability beginning Friday, 22 September.
A person wearing Apple Watch Series 9 is shown running outdoors on a cloudy day, with a motion blur effect.
Apple Watch Series 9 is a more indispensable companion than ever, offering powerful new capabilities to help users with their health, fitness, communications, and safety.
“Apple Watch is an indispensable companion that helps millions of people with their health, fitness, communications, and safety,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “We’re introducing our best Apple Watch lineup, with incredible new capabilities and technological advancements, including a new double tap gesture, brighter display, as well as our first-ever carbon neutral products. Whether users are upgrading from earlier models or buying their first, there’s never been a more compelling time to experience Apple Watch.”
“At Apple, we are committed to making products customers love and protecting the planet at the same time, and this year, we hit a key milestone toward our Apple 2030 goal,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. “Our first carbon neutral products were made in a uniquely Apple way, steeply reducing carbon emissions from materials, electricity, and transportation through innovation and design.”
Four carbon neutral Apple Watch Series 9 devices are shown against a white backdrop.
Select case and band combinations of Apple Watch Series 9 are Apple’s first-ever carbon neutral products.

Powerful New S9 SiP

Apple Watch Series 9 is powered by custom Apple silicon in the all-new S9 SiP. Apple’s most powerful watch chip yet delivers systemwide improvements and brand-new features, including a new double tap gesture. Apple Watch Series 9 also has a new 4-core Neural Engine that can process machine learning tasks up to twice as fast, when compared with Apple Watch Series 8. The power efficiency of the S9 SiP allows Apple Watch Series 9 to maintain all-day 18-hour battery life.1
Apple Watch Series 9 features the S9 SiP, Apple’s most powerful watch chip yet, along with a new 4-core Neural Engine that can process machine learning tasks up to two times faster.

Double Tap Gesture

Innovations such as the Digital Crown and Taptic Engine — along with gestures like tap, swipe, wrist raise, and cover to mute — make Apple Watch simple and intuitive to use. With a new double tap gesture, users can easily control Apple Watch Series 9 using just one hand and without touching the display. Users can tap the index finger and thumb of their watch hand together twice to quickly and conveniently perform many of the most common actions on Apple Watch Series 9.
Double tap controls the primary button in an app so it can be used to stop a timer, play and pause music, or snooze an alarm. The gesture can be used to answer and end a phone call, and even to take a photo with the Camera Remote on Apple Watch. Double tap will also open the Smart Stack from the watch face, and another double tap will scroll through widgets in the stack.
This new double tap gesture is enabled by the faster Neural Engine in Apple Watch Series 9, which processes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor with a new machine learning algorithm. The algorithm detects the unique signature of tiny wrist movements and changes in blood flow when the index finger and thumb perform a double tap. The double tap gesture will be available in a software update next month.
With a new double tap gesture, users can easily control Apple Watch Series 9 using just one hand and without touching the display. Double tap controls the primary button in an app so it can be used to answer a phone call, stop a timer, play and pause music, or snooze an alarm.

Brighter Display

The power-efficient S9 SiP and advanced display architecture increase the maximum brightness of the Apple Watch Series 9 display up to 2000 nits — double that of Series 8 — making it even easier to read text in bright sunlight. For dark rooms or early mornings, the display can also lower to just one nit so as not to disturb people close by.
The brighter display is shown on Apple Watch Series 9, shot against a black background.
Apple Watch Series 9 features a maximum brightness of up to 2000 nits — double that of Series 8.

Precision Finding and HomePod Integration

The ability to use Apple Watch to find iPhone is a favourite user feature. Now, the S9 SiP includes a second-generation Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip to enable Precision Finding for the iPhone 15 family, which has the same chip. Precision Finding provides distance and direction, as well as visual, haptic, and audio guidance to a misplaced iPhone, even if it is in a different room.
The S9 SiP chip features second-generation Ultra Wideband to enable Precision Finding, providing distance and direction, as well as visual, haptic, and audio guidance to a misplaced iPhone, even if it is in a different room.
UWB also brings deeper integration between Apple Watch and HomePod. When an Apple Watch user gets within 4 metres of a HomePod playing audio, Apple Watch Series 9 will launch Now Playing to control the media. Or if nothing is playing on HomePod, media suggestions will appear at the top of the Smart Stack.
The new second-generation Ultra Wideband chip also brings deeper integration between Apple Watch and HomePod.

Featuring watchOS 10

Apple Watch Series 9 runs watchOS 10, a milestone update that includes:
  • A fresh approach to quickly view information with redesigned apps and a new Smart Stack to show relevant widgets right when they’re needed.
  • Delightful new watch faces: Snoopy, Palette, and Solar Analogue. A new Nike watch face, Nike Globe, lights up the lines on the globe with each passing second.
  • Bluetooth connectivity for power meters, speed sensors, and cadence sensors arrives for cyclists, unlocking new metrics and Workout Views, and cycling workouts.
  • A cycling workout can automatically show up as a Live Activity on iPhone and utilise the full screen when tapped.
  • New Compass Waypoints and Maps capabilities to further help during outdoor adventures.
  • Additional tools to support mental health with state of mind logging in the Mindfulness app.
  • The ability to measure time spent in daylight using the ambient light sensor to help reduce the risk of myopia and provide additional benefits to physical and mental health for all ages.

Carbon Neutral Models

Select case and band combinations of Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Apple Watch SE are Apple’s first-ever carbon neutral products. As part of Apple 2030, the carbon footprint of Apple Watch has been significantly decreased. Emissions were reduced from the three biggest sources of greenhouse gases — materials, electricity, and transportation. The small amount of emissions remaining are offset with high-quality carbon credits from nature-based projects. Apple Watch packaging has been redesigned to be 100 per cent fibre-based, and a new logo on the packaging indicates models that are carbon neutral.
A green flower-shaped symbol sits in front of the words “Carbon Neutral.”
For the first time, customers can choose a carbon neutral option of any Apple Watch — a significant milestone toward Apple 2030.

Apple Watch SE

Apple Watch SE continues to deliver the core Apple Watch experience at a more affordable price point, and is a great way for users to start their Apple Watch journey, or gift to their loved ones. Additionally, Apple Watch SE offers Activity tracking, high and low heart rate notifications, Fall Detection, Emergency SOS, Crash Detection, and watchOS 10.
Six screens — including the new Snoopy watch face, the Weather app, sleep stages, an in-progress workout, an incoming call from a friend, and a user’s heart rate data — are shown on Apple Watch SE models with different band colours.
The new Apple Watch SE delivers the core Apple Watch experience at a more affordable price point, offering everything from Activity tracking to Emergency SOS.

Lineup

  • Apple Watch Series 9 is available in 41mm and 45mm sizes in starlight, midnight, silver, (PRODUCT)RED, and a new pink aluminium case, as well as stainless steel in gold, silver, and graphite cases.
  • Any aluminium Apple Watch Series 9 with a new Sport Loop band is carbon neutral.
  • Apple Watch SE is available in 40mm and 44mm aluminium cases, and is carbon neutral when paired with a new Sport Loop band.

Bands

Apple is introducing FineWoven, a luxurious and durable microtwill made of 68 per cent post-consumer recycled content that has significantly lower carbon emissions compared to leather. FineWoven has a suedelike feel, and is available with the Magnetic Link and Modern Buckle bands. Starting today, Apple will no longer use leather in any new Apple product, including watch bands.
The popular Sport Loop band has been redesigned to include 82 per cent recycled yarn. All new Apple Watch Sport Loops are carbon neutral.
Apple worked with Nike on more environmentally friendly band collections. The Nike Sport Band now contains 32 per cent or more recycled fluoroelastomer, including colourful flakes made from excess bands that create a randomised pattern, making each band unique, while the Nike Sport Loop with a space-dye pattern repurposes yarn from previous seasons.
Pricing and Availability
  • Customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, the UAE, the U.K., the U.S., and more than 40 other countries and regions can order Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch SE today, with availability beginning Friday, 22 September.
  • Apple Watch Series 9 starts at RRP NZ$749 inc. GST, and Apple Watch SE starts at RRP NZ$469 inc. GST.
  • Apple Watch bands, and Apple Watch Nike bands will be available to order today from apple.com/nz/store and in the Apple Store app, with availability beginning Friday, 22 September.
  • watchOS 10 will be available for Apple Watch Series 4 and later on Tuesday, 19 September, and requires iPhone XS or later running iOS 17. Not all features are available on all devices and in all regions.
  • Customers who purchase Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Ultra 2, or a new Apple Watch Series 4 or later could get three months of Apple Fitness+.2
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  1. Battery life varies by use.
  2. Offer available to new subscribers who purchase an eligible device after 8 September, 2022. NZ$16.99 per month after trial. Only one offer per Apple ID and only one offer per family if you’re part of a Family Sharing group, regardless of the number of devices you or your family purchases. This offer is not available if you or your Family have previously subscribed to Apple Fitness+. Offer good for three months after eligible device activation. Plan automatically renews until cancelled. Restrictions and other terms apply.

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