Alongside the new iPad and iPad Air, Tim Cook also announced the new Apple Watch 6 Series and the more affordable Apple Watch SE. Their official SRPs are Php22,990 and Php15,990, respectively. The Apple Watch Nike lineup that features exclusive Nike watch faces and the Nike Run Club app gets refreshed as well with the same starting price as the Watch 6 Series. US availability of the new smartwatches starts September 18th. As for Philippine availability, it remains to be seen.
With the Watch 6 Series, Apple’s fitness & health smartwatch now features a Blood Oxygen meter that requires only 15 seconds to get a result — all thanks to the new red, green, and infrared sensors shining light onto the blood vessels. Though the watch can record diverse fitness activities, including a real-time elevation tracker, the company’s wearable is all about keeping your health in check. The previous generations introduced automatic fall detection with auto-dial 911, ECG sensor, and sleep tracker. All of these are available on the Watch 6 Series. As for the available colors, you can choose from either Gold or Silver Aluminum case and the new Blue or (Product) RED Aluminum case.
As for the Apple Watch SE, it’s a cheaper alternative that brings all the important features from the previous Watch generations, such as the health trackers that we just mentioned earlier. The only thing you’re missing here is the Blood Oxygen meter and Always-on display feature.
Apple also announced a couple of software packages that go along with the new Apple Watches. The first is the Family Setup. It’s an app manager for connected Watch devices on your iPhone. The sole purpose of the app is to manage and track your family members even if they don’t have an iPhone, so long they have a compatible Apple Watch. Each connected Watch is provided with a phone number and an account for tracking purposes.
The second is the Fitness+ subscription service. Apple will start offering this service this late 2020 for a fee of $9.99/month or $79.99/year. Those who plan to buy an Apple Watch will get three months free of subscription. Additionally, you can share a service with five other family members. Fitness+ works with other Apple devices in which you can follow video exercises from professional trainers, with newly added workouts every week. Unfortunately, Apple Philippines’ page doesn’t have the support for Fitness+, leading us to believe that it won’t become available yet this year.
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