The primary Apple Watch debuted nearly 11 years in the past on April 24, 2015, and whereas Cupertino didn’t invent the smartwatch, Apple’s square-shaped wearable is definitely the preferred and recognizable smartwatch on the planet as we speak.
2026 marks 50 years of Apple, and to have a good time the model’s historical past, I’ve taken a glance again by the model’s total catalog of smartwatches — from the unique ‘Sequence 0’ to the present Sequence 11, Extremely 3, and SE 3 — to slim down the ten most vital Apple Watch improvements that revolutionized wearable tech.
2015: First Apple Watch debuts
(Picture credit score: Tom’s Information)
A standing image for techies, Apple moved over eight million smartwatches within the first yr it went on sale.
The yr is 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ is booming on the automobile stereo, ‘Pizza Rat’ is trending on Instagram (TikTok has but to launch within the U.S), selfie sticks have invaded public area en masse, and Apple has a shiny new wearable laptop known as the Apple Watch.
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The unique Apple Watch lacked the well being, health, and security options present in the most effective Apple Watch fashions in 2026. It additionally lacked waterproofing, mobile connectivity, and onboard GPS, counting on a paired telephone for location information. The system was groundbreaking and massively well-liked, nonetheless.
A standing image for techies, Apple moved over eight million smartwatches within the first yr it went on sale. Like as we speak’s flagship, the unique mannequin got here in two sizes, with a beginning value of $349 for the 38mm mannequin and $399 for the 42mm possibility. Key options included assist for Apple Pay, an onboard coronary heart fee monitor, and Apple’s nifty digital crown.
The primary Apple Watch additionally debuted alongside the official Apple Watch App Retailer, which supplied roughly 3,000 apps at launch.
2016: Onboard GPS
(Picture credit score: Tom’s Information)
The next yr, Apple introduced the Apple Watch Sequence 1 and Apple Watch Sequence 2, starting an annual September launch schedule that the model nonetheless sticks to as we speak. These upgraded fashions had the identical fundamental design as the unique, however now with splash-resistance, and maybe extra notably, onboard GPS.
This meant that customers might now monitor an outside exercise on their watch with out having to hold alongside a telephone for location information, an enormous perk for runners, walkers, hikers, and cyclists.
2017: Apple Watch goes mobile
Apple wasn’t the primary model to supply a cellular-capable smartwatch — that was Samsung — however 2017’s Apple Watch Sequence 3 actually popularized the idea of on-wrist connectivity, sans-smartphone. For the primary time, Apple Watch wearers might obtain calls and messages on their watch with no telephone in sight.
The LTE-capable Apple Watch Sequence 3 mannequin used eSIM to connect with cellular web, with the watch’s show serving because the mobile antenna.
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2018: Fall Detection
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One among Apple’s most well-known security options, Fall Detection, formally made its debut in 2018 alongside the Apple Watch Sequence 4. Now a mainstay on all Apple Watch fashions, Fall Detection makes use of the system’s onboard gyroscope and accelerometer to find out when a consumer takes a tumble and the way exhausting they fell.
In 2022, Apple expanded on this handy little bit of security tech by including automobile Crash Detection through the Apple Watch Sequence 8. Like Fall Detection, it could routinely name for assist in an emergency and share location information with family members and rescuers when you’re unresponsive.
2018: FDA-approved ECG readings
(Picture credit score: Future)
2018’s Apple Watch Sequence 4 was additionally the primary smartwatch in the marketplace with FDA-approved electrocardiogram (ECG) performance able to detecting Atrial fibrillation (AFib).
This was the precise second, in my thoughts, that the Apple Watch started to shift away from being a companion system to the iPhone, centered on connectivity options, and extra of a standalone system centered round a consumer’s well being, health, and security.
ECG studying took simply 30 seconds and required you to easily press your thumb and finger in opposition to the digital crown and again of the system. Two years later, Samsung would add an identical FDA-approved ECG performance through the Galaxy Watch 3.
2019: All the time-on show
(Picture credit score: Tom’s Information)
The Apple Watch Sequence 5 in 2019 ushered within the period of always-on shows. The watch’s modern LTPO panel allowed the display screen to stay lively always, utilizing a low refresh fee to avoid wasting battery.
This meant that your Apple Watch might now show the time and your selection of issues with out the necessity to increase your wrist, faucet the display screen, or press a button to wake it. It’s value noting that Apple was removed from the primary smartwatch maker to introduce an always-on show, however the model little doubt popularized the function.
2020: Blood oxygen monitoring
(Picture credit score: Future)
2020’s Apple Watch Sequence 6 noticed the introduction of one other marquee well being function: blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring. Whereas the Sequence 6 was one of many world’s first mainstream smartwatches with the function, its debut would in the end land Apple in sizzling authorized water with rival, Masimo, which claimed to personal the patents behind the tech.
The Apple vs Masimo debacle would in the end lead to a U.S. import ban on later Apple Watch fashions (the Sequence 9 and Extremely 2) and years of back-and-forth litigation.
Nonetheless, the function launched simply in time for the COVID-19 pandemic. By monitoring the share of oxygen in a consumer’s bloodstream (something 95% and up is taken into account ‘regular’), the function might probably point out early indicators of a viral an infection primarily based on constantly low readings. In fact, it was no substitute for an precise COVID-19 check.
2022: Apple Watch Extremely debuts
(Picture credit score: Future)
2020 additionally gave us the debut of the extra wallet-friendly Apple Watch SE, with a beginning value of $279. Nonetheless, it might be one other two years earlier than Apple’s tough-built Apple Watch Extremely arrived.
Arguably essentially the most groundbreaking mannequin because the debut of the very first Apple Watch Sequence 0, the $799 Extremely promised much better battery, a more durable construct high quality with a sapphire crystal show and titanium alloy case, a further, programmable ‘Motion Button,’ and double the water resistance of the usual and SE fashions. It additionally supplied a large, ultra-bright display screen packed right into a larger-than-life 49mm case.
Designed with out of doors fanatics and endurance athletes in thoughts, the Apple Watch Extremely discovered a curious fanbase amongst tech and finance bros wanting to swap out their Rolex Submariner for one thing even cooler.
2024: Sleep apnea detection
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Apple was just a little late to the sleep apnea detection practice, however 2024 was when Cupertino formally began taking sleep monitoring severely. Whereas prior fashions monitored your sleep patterns and whole time spent resting, this was the primary time the Apple Watch might inform you whether or not indicators of the lethal situation, which frequently goes unnoticed, are current in your sleep information.
For sleep apnea detection to work, customers have to put on their Apple Watch Sequence 9 or newer for at the least ten nights in 30 days.
2025: Hypertension alerts
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As of writing, hypertension alerts stay distinctive to solely Apple Watches. Supplied on the Sequence 9 and newer, together with the Extremely 2 and three, the system wants 30 days of wrist information to foretell whether or not or not the consumer reveals potential indicators of hypertension.
To do that, the watch makes use of the onboard coronary heart fee sensor to watch how your blood vessels reply to your heartbeat. That information will get fed by an algorithm to find out whether or not or not the consumer is prone to hypertension.
(Honorable point out) 2025: Satellite tv for pc SOS messaging
(Picture credit score: Tom’s Information)
Presently solely obtainable on the Apple Watch Extremely 3, the brand new emergency SOS messaging function is designed to let customers hook up with rescuers and/or family members from off-the-grid through satellite tv for pc with the power to share location information and a text-based message.
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