Everything We Know About the Apple Watch Series 11

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If you're in the market for a new Apple Watch, don't buy one yet. Apple is set to announce a slate of new products at today's "Awe Dropping" event, including new Apple Watches. Rumors suggest the company will introduce the third-generations of the Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch SE, and, for those of us that stick with the company's flagship smartwatch, Apple will likely unveil the Series 11 as well.

Based on the available rumors, the upgrades to the Series 11 seems remarkably similar to the Ultra 3—only, the Series 11 is getting fewer. Apple might have decided its flagship smartwatch doesn't quite need all of the new features its "Ultra" model gets. It also seems possible the company sees the Series 10 as a good enough foundation to work from. Why fix what isn't broken?

My guess is, based on what we know now, the Series 11 is assuredly not for Series 10 owners. It might not even be for Series 9 owners. This might simply be a minor update to an already excellent smartwatch, aimed at those who are looking to upgrade in general. For those customers, here's what you can expect to find on the Series 11 that you wouldn't get on the Series 10.

New processor

As with the Ultra 3, rumors suggest the Series 11 will get a new processor: the S11. That isn't all that surprising. New Apple Watches tend to ship with new processors. In fact, according to rumors, all of Apple's newest smartwatches will come with the S11.

You might think that would make the Series 11 (and the Ultra 3 and SE, for that matter) the fastest Apple Watches yet, and it might. But MacRumors thinks the chips are roughly the same as the S10 introduced with the Series 10. That's not a bad thing, as the S10 can handily power the Series 10. However, if true, you shouldn't expect a Series 11 watch to outperform the previous generation. We won't know until Apple discusses the S11's performance, however.

5G connectivity

The cellular Series 11, like the Ultra 3, is rumored to come with a 5G modem for the first time in an Apple Watch. Current cellular watches are only capable of connecting to 4G LTE, so this would be a considerable upgrade. Your Series 11 could theoretically take advantage of 5G speeds when available, which would improve the performance of downloads, calls, and other internet-based tasks.

If that's the case, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says MediaTek will be the one supplying the modems. He also suggests the watches will support 5G Redcap a slower 5G service for lower-performing devices.

Blood pressure monitor

Gurman also suggests in the same report that Apple might add a blood pressure monitor to both the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Ultra 3. This is something Apple has been working on for a while, and would offer users alerts whenever the sensor believes they were experiencing hypertension.

It seems like a useful health feature, but it's one I wouldn't bet money on seeing today. While it's certainly possible, Gurman says the company has been running into issues with the engineering, as well as regulatory concerns. If Apple doesn't announce a blood pressure monitor for the Series 11 and Ultra 3, it might save the feature for the Series 12—or scrap it entirely.

What about the Apple Watch SE?

The third-generation Apple Watch SE will also likely debut today. Gurman predicts that, like the Ultra 3 and the Series 11, the SE 3 will also come with an S11 chip. Gurman also believes that Apple is ready to increase the display size of the SE. Right now, the SE 2 has the design from older Apple Watches, as offers 40mm or 44mm sizing options. If Apple chooses to take inspiration from, say, the Series 7 instead, the SE 3 could increase the sizes to 41mm and 45mm.