Looking Back on Five Years of Apple Watch

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple Watch launching on April 24, 2015. To mark the occasion, below we reflect on some of the key features added to the Apple Watch over the last five years.

apple watch edition video promo

  • 2015: The original Apple Watch was quite slow and relied heavily on a paired iPhone, but it laid the foundation for the future of the device. Available in 38mm and 42mm sizes, the original Apple Watch introduced everything from the Digital Crown scroll wheel to Activity rings. The original lineup included the since-discontinued 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition, priced up to $17,000.
  • 2016: Equipped with a dual-core S2 chip, the Apple Watch Series 2 was up to 50 percent faster than the original Apple Watch. Other new features included a built-in GPS, water resistance up to 50 meters for swimming, and a two times brighter display. Apple also introduced a Series 1 model that was essentially the original Apple Watch with an S2 chip.
  • 2017: Series 3 marked a major step forward for the Apple Watch with LTE cellular connectivity on select models, allowing for users to make phone calls, send messages, stream Apple Music, and more without needing an iPhone nearby. Series 3 models also featured an up to 70 percent faster S3 chip, a barometric altimeter for measuring elevation, and a W2 chip that made Wi-Fi up to 85 percent faster and up to 50 percent more power efficient.
  • 2018: Series 4 marked the arrival of two major health and safety features in Fall Detection and the ECG app. Apple also increased the casing sizes and shrunk down the bezels around the display, resulting in larger 40mm and 44mm options. And with the 64-bit S4 chip, performance became up to two times faster.
  • 2019: Apple Watch Series 5 was a relatively iterative refresh, with new features including an always-on display, a built-in compass, 32GB of internal storage, and international emergency calling on cellular models.

Looking ahead, rumors suggest that Apple Watch Series 6 models will feature sleep tracking, blood oxygen level monitoring, faster performance and Wi-Fi connectivity, further improvements to water resistance, and possibly even a form of Touch ID.

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

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

centauratlas Avatar
68 months ago
Blood oxygen, eventually body temperature and more health related items will be killer features of the watch long term. In 2025 it will be interesting to see the 10 year retrospective.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
currentinterest Avatar
68 months ago
Looking forward to sleep tracking, improved ECG, blood glucose levels, blood oxygen, and body temperature sensors either in the watch or a smart band.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rovank Avatar
68 months ago
Apple, please bring the Watch App to the iPad for those of us that have one without having an iPhone.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phenste Avatar
68 months ago
I never got the 18k gold Edition, am I a failure in life?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Game 161 Avatar
68 months ago
A flop they said.....
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xnu Avatar
68 months ago
I still wear my series 0. Works great, use it with the Sleep++ app, not perfect but useful. It has been through every water park in Disney several times, still kicking.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)