Some of the The best Apple Watch Black Friday deals are already underway, and the Apple Watch Series 9, the latest version of Apple’s popular smartwatch, could be the ultimate steal of the sales season.
The Apple Watch Series 9 is it The best smartwatch You can buy right now for several reasons. It has an advanced processor that improves performance and enables cool features like the new double-tap gesture. Thanks to the new ultra-wideband chip, Series 9 makes it easier than ever to find your misplaced smartphone. Simply put, if you’re an iPhone user, the flagship Apple Watch is the ultimate accessory.
But if you have an older Apple Watch, or you want to be able to use an Apple Watch for the first time, you might be wondering if the Apple Watch Series 9 is the right one to buy on Black Friday.
We’ve already seen a number of discounts on Apple’s smartwatches, with the Apple Watch Series 9 staying the same. $389 on Amazon. As we approach Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, we expect to see even bigger discounts. In fact, we know you’ll be able to pick up the Apple Watch Series 9 for $349 at Walmart on November 8.
Here are the reasons you should consider buying the Apple Watch Series 9 with Black Friday deals, including one reason why you might want to buy a different Apple Watch model instead.
Pro: Apple’s best in health and fitness tracking
The Apple Watch Series 9 is the best Apple has to offer in terms of health and fitness tracking. In addition to a heart rate sensor, the latest Apple Watch packs electrocardiogram, blood oxygen, and skin temperature sensors. Together, these readers collect and analyze data to inform your activity, sleep, menstrual cycles, heart health and more.
Whether you want to be more active and close your Apple Watch rings, improve your sleep pattern, practice mindfulness or share ECGs with your cardiologist, the Apple Watch Series 9 is the perfect health tool. You’ll get three free months of Apple Fitness Plus when you buy a new Apple Watch, so you can take advantage of the company’s fitness platform and jump start your New Year’s resolutions.
Pro: It will last for several years
One of the biggest improvements of the Apple Watch Series 9 vs. Apple Watch Series 8 is the addition of an improved processor. Apple’s S9 smartwatch chip offers the most significant performance upgrade in years, delivering a 25% improvement in performance and 30% faster graphics.
The S9 processor effectively future-proofs the Apple Watch Series 9. Since it’s likely that Apple won’t update the processor in a few cycles, watchOS software updates should be optimized for the Series 9 chip. Although your watch will ship with watchOS 10 , next years, you will be able to install software versions with new Apple Watch features and experience. (If you’re interested in learning more about the power of the S9 chip, check out our interview with Apple Watch executives.)
Pro: Double tapping is great
Perhaps the best feature of the Apple Watch Series 9 is a new action called double-tapping. Double tapping is available on Apple Watch Series 9 (and Apple Watch Ultra 2) in watchOS 10.1, introducing a new way to control your smartwatch with one hand.
By tapping your index finger and thumb together twice on your watch hand, you can perform certain actions. What I really like is using the scrolling in the Smart Stack, launching Automatic Workout Tracking and stopping music playing through Apple Music. You can also use Double Tap to reply to a text message, answer a call, stop the timer and trigger a countdown in the remote camera app.
Con: You can buy the Apple Watch SE at a lower price
One reason I would recommend against buying the Apple Watch Series 9 during Black Friday deals is that you can buy a different Apple Watch at a great price. On Black Friday, I expect the Apple Watch SE (2022) to sell for $199, or $50 off full price.
Now, the Apple Watch SE doesn’t have the S9 processor, so it’s not future-proofed in the same way as the Series 9 and it doesn’t have double-tap. And it doesn’t have many health sensors. But if you’re looking for a first smartwatch, buying a smartwatch as a gift or just don’t need the full experience, it’s easy to recommend the Apple Watch SE. Especially if you can get it for less than $200, which is half of the regular price of the Apple Watch Series 9.
