Apple Watch Series 7 vs. Apple Watch Series 8: Should You Upgrade?

The Apple Watch Series 8 is expected to replace the Apple Watch Series 7 at next week’s Apple event, but how different are the two successive smartwatch generations rumored to be?

In 2021, Apple unveiled the ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌, including features like taller casing sizes with larger displays and faster charging technology. As the Series 7 and Series 8 look set to share a large number of features this year, should you consider buying or sticking with the Series 7 to save money?

While we can only present a tentative picture of what to expect from the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ based on reliable reports and rumors from over the past year, our guide may help you to form a preliminary buying decision. Customers should, of course, wait for a full breakdown of the differences between the ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ and ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ once the latter has been officially announced. This buyer’s guide will be updated as soon as we know more.

Differences

*The ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ “Pro” is expected to gain all of the same features as the standard ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ models.

Design

The standard ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ models, expected to come in the same 41mm and 45mm sizes as the Series 7, are not expected to feature a redesign – meaning that they could look identical to last year’s models.

The only significant changes are expected to come to the high-end Apple Watch “Pro” model. According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, the high-end variant of the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ will feature the device’s first redesign since the launch of the Apple Watch Series 4 in 2018. It will apparently not be circular, and contrary to reports of a squared-off design, “it also won’t have those rumored flat sides.” Instead, Gurman described the new design as being “an evolution of the current rectangular shape.” The design may mean that existing 45mm Apple Watch bands are not fully compatible with the new casing.

Earlier this year, the leaker known as “ShrimpApplePro,” who correctly said that the ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ would feature a rounded design like the Apple Watch Series 6, claimed that Apple was working on a “flat front glass display” for an ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ model. It seemed plausible that this information could relate to the rumored new design for the high-end model, but it has since been confirmed by Mac Otakara that the flat display belongs to the 47mm Apple Watch “Pro.”

The aluminum Series 8 models are expected to drop the Series 7’s Blue and Green color options, and reintroduce Silver for a range of Midnight, Starlight, PRODUCT(RED), or Silver finishes. The stainless steel models are expected to be available in the same Gold, Silver, and Graphite color options.

S7 vs. S8 Chip

According to Gurman, the S8 chip will feature the same specifications as the S6 and S7 chips. This means that the chip is unlikely to deliver significant performance or efficiency improvements as the ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌’s chip.

Health Monitoring

Both the ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ and Series 8 are expected to feature an optical heart sensor, electrical heart sensor for ECG, and blood oxygen sensor. Body temperature monitoring for the Apple Watch has long been rumored by sources like Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, but over the past year rumors have crystalized around the feature finally debuting on the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ later this year. Apple was recently granted a patent for a temperature sensor conspicuously related to the Apple Watch.

Contrary to the hopes of some observers hoping to be able to check their body temperature or see if they have a fever, it looks like the feature may be significantly more limited at launch.

Reports from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman state that the body temperature sensor is primarily designed to aid fertility planning, giving women insights into their ovulation cycle, and could be used to improve the detection of patterns when tracking sleep. Apple significantly bolstered the Apple Watch’s sleep tracking capabilities in watchOS 9, so further improvements in this area aided by hardware this year seem plausible.

Apple is also said to have plans to enable the body temperature sensor to detect when a user has a fever, but it seems unlikely that this feature will be available upon the launch of the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌. Gurman believes that further in the future, Apple Watch models could determine if a user has a higher than normal body temperature, but it is still unlikely to show an exact measurement. All in all, this suggests that the body temperature sensor that comes with the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ may not be quite what some users have come to expect.

According to Kuo, Apple originally intended to offer a body temperature measurement feature with the ‌‌Apple Watch Series 7‌‌ models, but the company shelved the plans when the body temperature algorithm it had developed failed to meet requirements before the device entered the engineering validation testing (EVT) phase last year.

The problems Apple has experienced relating to body temperature measurement purportedly relate to the fact that skin temperature quickly varies based on the environment, and since a smartwatch cannot monitor core body temperature using hardware, the feature is heavily dependent on an algorithm that produces accurate results. This likely explains why the body temperature sensing capabilities of the Apple Watch may be limited when the Series 8 launches later this year.

Battery Life

Since the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ models are expected to feature the same design as the existing 41mm and 45mm ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ models, a significantly larger battery may be unlikely. There have been no rumors of battery size increases for these new devices. Nevertheless, there are reports of a new Low Power Mode for the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ that could help prolong battery life across all of the new models when charge drops below a certain threshold.

Gurman believes that the high-end Apple Watch will contain a bigger battery owing to its larger casing size. He said that the larger battery could enable longer workout times. It is not yet known how much bigger the high-end Apple Watch’s battery will be this year, but all of the current and previous Apple Watch models boast an “all-day” 18-hour battery life.

Apple Watch ‘Pro’

The Apple Watch “Pro” model could replace the Apple Watch Edition, touting similar titanium casing, but adding several high-end features such as a more durable new design, a larger battery, and larger display that could show more on-screen fitness metrics at one time. Gurman believes the device will have a casing made of “a more durable formulation of titanium to make it extra rugged” and said that “the upcoming Apple Watch release is shaping up to be one of the company’s more exciting product launches this year.” This may help the high-end Apple Watch justify its price point. Gurman claims that it could cost in the range of $900 to $999.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ is shaping up to be a fairly minor upgrade over the Series 7, with the body temperature sensor and Low Power mode being the only significant changes. Providing the above enhancements are delivered as expected, many ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ users may not be able to justify upgrading to the Series 8, but some customers coming from an older model could still have good reason to preference the latest models. Upgrading to the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ “Pro” could make more sense for those who want an even larger display, a lighter and more durable design, and the best possible battery life.

Apple is reportedly planning to unveil the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ models at an Apple event on Wednesday, September 7 with the tagline “Far out.” While the ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ shipped later than usual due to delays, the ‌Apple Watch Series 8‌ is not expected to launch under similar constraints.