The budget-conscious Apple Watch SE 3 features an S10 chip, an always-on display, a new Sleep Score feature, Double Tap gesture support, wrist temperature sensing for retrospective ovulation estimates, sleep apnea detection, fast charging support, 5G support on cellular configurations, on-device Siri, and many other improvements.
Here is how the new Sleep Score feature works, according to Apple:
Sleep quality is influenced by several factors, such as sleep duration, bedtime consistency, how often a person wakes up, and how much time is spent in each sleep stage. With sleep score, Apple Watch helps track each of these categories to offer users a transparent and easy-to-understand metric for their overall sleep quality. After each night, sleep score provides an overall score and classification in the Sleep app on Apple Watch, plus a clear breakdown of the most critical components so users know what to prioritize to improve their sleep.
Apple Watch SE 3 is available in Starlight and Midnight, in 40mm and 44mm sizes. In the U.S., pricing starts at $249. Pre-orders begin today, ahead of a Friday, September 19 launch.
With watchOS 26, which will be released on Monday, September 15, the Apple Watch SE will support the new Workout Buddy feature powered by Apple Intelligence.
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
As we wait for WWDC to kick off next Monday, Apple today announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, recognizing apps and games for their innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement.
The 2025 Apple Design Award winners are listed below, with one app and one game selected per category:
Delight and Fun - CapWords (App) and Balatro (Game)
Innovation - Play (App) and PBJ -...
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:07 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the AirPods Max 2 received more attention, Apple also released a second pair of headphones last month: Nike Powerbeats Pro 2.
Nike Powerbeats Pro 2 are the same as the regular Powerbeats Pro 2, except they have a two-tone design consisting of black and Nike's signature Volt neon green-yellow color. The headphones were released on March 20 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., and a ...
Thursday March 26, 2026 11:12 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
In addition to indicating that a new full-sized HomePod is in the works, and that the foldable iPhone will likely ship later than the iPhone 18 Pro models this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said he does not expect any major design changes for the next-generation Apple Watch models coming later this year.
Gurman revealed all of this information in a live Q&A call today on the Bloomberg...
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
As we wait for WWDC to kick off next Monday, Apple today announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, recognizing apps and games for their innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement.
The 2025 Apple Design Award winners are listed below, with one app and one game selected per category:
Delight and Fun - CapWords (App) and Balatro (Game)
Innovation - Play (App) and PBJ -...
This seems like a really solid value. I'm torn between getting an Apple Watch SE with cellular for my 6th grader who needs some cellular connectivity for calling us for various after school activities, or if I should try to hold out for another year and get her a used iPhone. Don't really feel like a 6th grader needs a smartphone, but she says most of her friends have one. If I get her an SE, it might hold her off on bugging me about it for a couple more years and save some money on the phone bill, lol.
Good for you on not giving a smartphone to your daughter. The more we learn about smartphones & social media for children, especially girls, the grimmer the outlook is. Go read "The Tech Exit" by Clare Morell, find some like-minded families, and hold out as long as you can! You won't regret it.
This seems like a really solid value. I'm torn between getting an Apple Watch SE with cellular for my 6th grader who needs some cellular connectivity for calling us for various after school activities, or if I should try to hold out for another year and get her a used iPhone. Don't really feel like a 6th grader needs a smartphone, but she says most of her friends have one. If I get her an SE, it might hold her off on bugging me about it for a couple more years and save some money on the phone bill, lol.
If this Apple Watch is capable of cell phone calls by itself, without a smartphone (I don’t know, I’ve never had an Apple Watch), it’s definitely the right tool for a kid.
If a 6th grader is an 11 year old child, the phone bill is the last thing you should worry about giving open, unrestricted, unsupervised internet access. I mean, sometimes I get the feeling most parents haven’t used the internet like a younger person would, but there are many dangers to a child’s mental and sexual health out there, accessible either through the browser, through social media apps, or now through the use of AI. The safest way to introduce a child to the internet is through a supervised internet connected PC in a shared environment such as the living room.
Keep in mind that most of us who were born before the 2000s had Internet access while we were almost adults, with a well developed brain at 17 or 18 years old. What’s happening now to kids being exposed to such intense stimulus at such early stages is something unprecedented and with unknown consequences…
You could, of course, buy her a feature phone, but that will make her be pointed by her classmates. Little does she know, that the ones doing the wrong thing for their age, are their classmates and not her. And that, ultimately, the responsible of all of this, are the parents, teachers and education institutions that allow this.
This seems like a really solid value. I'm torn between getting an Apple Watch SE with cellular for my 6th grader who needs some cellular connectivity for calling us for various after school activities, or if I should try to hold out for another year and get her a used iPhone. Don't really feel like a 6th grader needs a smartphone, but she says most of her friends have one. If I get her an SE, it might hold her off on bugging me about it for a couple more years and save some money on the phone bill, lol.
