Apple Watch Series 11: The things you don’t see

While there were solid improvements in the last generation of Apple’s popular wearable, the huge 24-hour battery life in Apple Watch Series 11 means this smartwatch has finally become what it always promised to be: a device capable of running all day and all night, which is especially for tasks like sleep tracking.

Based on my time with a Series 11 version provided for review by Apple, if you already wear a Series 10 Apple Watch, much will feel the same. The newest edition is just as thin, weighs about the same, and even looks the same. If you’re already comfortable with your existing watch, the new one will be familiar.

The ever improving user experience

Setting up a new Apple Watch seems to get a little easier each time; all you need to do is power it up and hold it near your iPhone to begin the pairing process. You’ll be given a sequence of easy start-up instructions and the chance to set the watch up as new or restore it from a backup. With the exception of the restore, the process takes no time at all, and you will be wearing your new watch in a few minutes. 

Like so much about what Apple does, many of us may take the ease of setup for granted. We shouldn’t. Apple has spent years refining that part of the experience to make it as seamless and easy as possible. It’s continuously improved that experience since the first Apple Watch, with user interface improvements, added watch faces and dozens of built-in tools to help you with your life. (Being able to walk through many airports using travel tickets and boarding passes tucked away on your watch can feel pretty magical sometimes.)

Once I upgraded, everything pretty much just worked — with the exception of apps that might require authorization, and card payments using Apple Pay/Wallet, which had to be verified with my payment providers. (Some payment providers have a multistep process for this; others just took two steps.)

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Work, eat… and sleep

Pretty soon, I was going about my daily business, using the watch to check incoming messages, monitor my step count, check the weather, pay for groceries, deal with public transit, get directions, and take calls — thanks to the built-in cellular connection. I’ve even used the watch to convert ingredient measurements when cooking recipes.

Typically, Apple Watch wearers do a lot with their device, which has been a problem when using the sleep tracking it has provided since 2020. Using that feature meant you had to remember to charge the device before or after you slept if you wanted to continue using it the rest of the day. 

This got better with Apple Watch Series 10 which gave us up to 18 hours of use, but Apple Watch Series 11 is the equivalent of the Holy Grail, offering up to 24 hours of battery life. It means you can track sleep and still use your watch the next day, something Apple Watch users have wanted from the start.

Apple also introduced a second battery boost in the form of faster charging, which means that when your watch is running out of power you’ll get eight more hours of battery life in just 15 minutes on charge (or 5 minutes for a night’s sleep tracking). That’s a meaningful upgrade on its own.

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Watching the detectives

Other improvements are harder to spot:

Ion-X glass used in the screen is much more durable; users may notice how much less prone it is to becoming scratched than any previous model. There’s a reason for that, which is that Apple has tweaked the sophisticated and proprietary process design to put together the toughest glass in the industry, reinforced with a ceramic coating at an atomic level. This basically makes the screen incredibly hard to crack.

Hypertension notifications should help people better maintain oversight of their own fitness, helping by spotting some of the signs of heart attack, stroke, or kidney disease. To achieve this, the watch gathers data from the optical heart sensor over a 30-day period, analyzes this, and notifies you if it spots consistent signs of hypertension.

The blood oxygen app has once again appeared, alongside all the other fitness features. It’s why Apple Watch remains king of the fitness bands, though the hypertension feature is once again something most of us hopefully will never have to deal with.

Another thing you don’t see is a new chip inside. The S10 is basically the same chip used in the previous model. Also identical are the W3 Apple Wireless chip and the Ultra-Wideband chip used in the devices. 

Intelligent machines

I think this is the first time Apple has not upgraded the processor inside a new watch model, though software tweaks and other on-device improvements mean you will continue to get seamless, responsive performance.

Apple has also put more artificial intelligence inside, principally a new neural network that helps optimize some tasks, including voice isolation when using the watch to make a call. Apple has also improved one of the more popular apps. The Workout Buddy delivers more personalized ways to stay active and supports additional workout types. Meanwhile, the addition of flick gestures, watch faces and more means everything that already works on Apple Watch works at least as well as it ever did. The overall result is a big improvement in the overall user experience.

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Buying advice

What was always good about the Apple Watch remains just as good as ever. In many cases, artificial intelligence has made those features better, while the improved display and battery resilience means you can usually trust Apple Watch to take you where you want to go, and back again. 

If you have an Apple Watch Series 10, you might be tempted to upgrade — six hours of extra battery life is nice to have. If you have an older model, the battery life improvement makes this a super upgrade. It means you now have a wearable that can take you through your night and through your day, while also letting you know how much energy you need yourself, thanks to the sleep monitoring tools you can more easily use. Apple Watch Series 11 prices begin at $399 and is available now.

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