This evening Apple hosted a rather solitary but well produced event at Apple Park in Cupertino.
The production was fantastic and the firm knows how to put on a show despite a pandemic raging through the globe.
Of course, a slew of new products were announced including the new Watch Series 6.
The highlight of the new wearable is a Blood Oxygen sensor. Using infrared, green and red light, the watch measures how much light is reflected back to get a reading of how much oxygen is in your blood. Pretty nifty.
The Always-On Retina display is brighter than Series 5 especially outdoors where Apple claims a 2.5X increase in brightness.
But what about the inside of the Watch Series 6?
The system on chip (or system in platform as Apple calls it) is a dual-core A13 Bionic chip that is 20 percent faster. Faster than what? Not sure, Apple’s press release just includes a vague wave at a 20 percent figure so we’re going to draw the conclusion it’s talking about the Watch Series 5.
Other notable features include an Always-On Altimeter and Ultra Wideband Antennas for things like digital car keys.
The Watch Series 6 also features some weird straps.
Rather than a clasp, Apple is going for a solid hunk of silicone called the Solo Loop. There’s also a Braided Solo Loop and a Leather Link which uses magnets as a clasp.
It seems as if the only Apple Watch Series 6 devices with a traditional strap are the Nike Sport Band and Hermès versions.
As for price, the Watch Series 6 will cost you Xbox Series X money.
The Series 6 with GPS starts at $399 while the version with GPS and Cellular will start at $499.
The Series 6 goes on sale in the US on Friday but as of time of writing the local iStore has no mention of the new wearables.