Apple Watch Series 9 vs. Apple Watch Series 8: Should you upgrade?

The Apple Watch Series 9 is, for all intents and purposes, another new Apple Watch. It’s not trying to revolutionize the fitness tracking industry, and it’s certainly not turning Apple’s wearable offerings upside down. Instead, it’s giving customers a slight upgrade over the Series 8, just in case you were considering upgrading this year.

That being said, the Series 9 is wildly similar to 2022’s Series 8, so you may be wondering whether it’s worth it to pick up an older model and save a few bucks.

Let’s break down the differences between the Apple Watch Series 9 and Series 8 to paint a clearer picture.

Apple Watch Series 9 vs. Series 8 at a glance

Quick comparison

It’s not just you — the designs look exactly the same

Apple didn’t change anything about the Series 9’s design … at all. This is practically the same Apple Watch as last year.

Both the Series 9 and Series 8 ship in 41mm and 45mm case sizes, with support for the same bands as each other.

Apple offers aluminum and stainless steel options depending on how classy you wanna get, and they both ship in a variety of colors. If you’ve always wanted a pink Apple Watch, you’ll have to get a Series 9. Otherwise, your choices are Midnight, Starlight, Product Red and Silver.

With the Series 9, Apple will be promoting some of its newest bands like the redesigned Solo Loop, FineWoven Magnetic Link and Modern Buckle, recycled Nike options and updated Hermès collection. But they’re by no means exclusive to the new watch — they’ll work just fine with the Series 8.

Apple also offers Wi-Fi only and cellular models of each Apple Watch, so you don’t have to worry about losing certain connectivity with either model.

TL;DR: The Apple Watch Series 9 and Series 8 look basically the same, with the only difference being that the Series 9 comes in pink.

If you want a bright screen, get a Series 9

While the screens are largely the same between the Series 9 and Series 8, there is one difference that might matter to some folks: the brightness.

The Series 8’s display can reach up to 1,000 nits at its peak, which is pretty good. On the other hand, you get double that on the Series 9; Apple decided to go with 2,000 nits on its latest watch, which means you’ll be able to see it much easier in direct sunlight.

TL;DR: If you like hiking outdoors or spend a ton of time in the sun, the extra screen brightness from the Apple Watch Series 9 might be worth it.

The Series 9 gets updated specs, but the Series 8 is still no slouch

The biggest difference between the Series 9 and Series 8 is the performance.

Apple redesigned the interior of the Series 9 to fit its new S9 processor, which is based on the A15 Bionic processor from the iPhone 14. According to Apple, the chip gives you 30% better performance than the S8 chip inside the Series 8, which allows for smoother animations, quicker app opening times and more. The new Neural Engine in the chip is also a lot snappier and allows most of your interactions with Siri to run directly on your Apple Watch, which will speed things up tremendously.

But wait, that’s not all. The S9 also allows for up to 25x faster dictation, so you can type with your voice even faster. The chip even gives you the ability to use Siri to keep track of your health; you can check your sleep levels from the previous night, how many calories you’ve burned, what your blood glucose levels are and more. This is only possible because Siri can be processed locally, which keeps all of your health data securely on your Apple Watch.

You also get Double Tap, a new gesture on the Series 9 where you double tap your index finger and thumb on the hand your Apple Watch sits above to interact with buttons, scroll menus and more without having to touch the screen. It’s a spin on Apple’s accessibility features previously available on the watch, and it’s very cool.

Oh, and you get the new second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, a chip that can find devices in your Find My network and point you in their direction. With the new chip, you can find friends using a compass on your watch’s screen for guidance. It works from a much longer distance as well, so if you lose your friend in a crowd of people, you can find them much easier.

The Apple Watch Series 8, meanwhile, has none of this. The S8 chip is still a very capable chipset, and you’ll be happy with how it performs. We were when we reviewed the watch back in 2022, and it’s still a great performer for everything from fitness tracking to making phone calls from your wrist. You just won’t get the very best that Apple has to offer, including the new Ultra Wideband features.

TL;DR: There are a lot of internal upgrades in the Series 9 that’ll give you better performance across the board. But the Series 8 is still a champion at reliable performance.

The same health tracking and software features across both

Apple didn’t give the Apple Watch Series 9 any new health tracking tools, which means you’ll get the same fitness tracking abilities across the newer model and its predecessor.

That’s not a bad thing, by the way. The Apple Watch is widely regarded as one of the most advanced health tracking tools on the market, thanks to integrated features like blood oxygen monitoring, heart rate notifications, sleep tracking, menstrual cycle tracking and automatic workout detection (with support for tracking dozens of different workouts).

It all ties into Apple’s excellent Fitness experience on the watch and iPhone, with live feeds of how many calories you’re burning, your current heart rate, specific metrics based on the type of workout you’re doing and more. All of your data is stored in Apple Health and is easily accessible whenever you want to take a look.

Both watches are also powered by watchOS 10, and will support the watchOS 11 update — which promises more convenient access to data and deeper workout features — when it launches in the fall of 2024. And it’s an excellent operating system, no matter how you look at it. From the app quality to the interface itself, Apple has the best wearable OS you’ll find, no question about it. The new generation makes it even better with glanceable widgets, easier access to Control Center with the side button, new animations and more.

TL;DR: Regardless of which one you get, the Apple Watch will give you the same fitness tracking and software experiences, which is to say they’re both equally as good.

The Series 8 is cheaper — sometimes

With so many similarities, it makes sense to consider the Series 8 over the Series 9 simply because you’ll almost always find it for cheaper. The Apple Watch Series 8 is technically discontinued, but plenty of third-party retailers still carry it at a markdown (we’ve even seen it drop to half price during certain sales). If you can find a deal like this, the Series 8 is a great choice for those who might not feel like spending $400-plus on a new Apple Watch but still want premium features like an edge-to-edge display, speedy performance and advanced health tracking tools.

That said, in the time since we first published this comparison, the Series 8 has become harder to find — and the Series 9 now enjoys frequent discounts. You can currently snag certain models of the watch on Amazon for $329, and we’ve seen it go down as low as $279 in the past. Unless you find an absolutely unbeatable deal on Apple’s older watch, a discounted Series 9 is just about the best value in smartwatches.

TL;DR: Given their similarities, the Series 8 is better buy if you can get it for considerably less than the Series 9.

Bottom line

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Series 8 are two very similar smartwatches. One has a faster chip and a new tapping gesture, while the other … is pretty much the same watch minus those two features. Oh, and the Series 9 comes in pink, which is cool if you like pink.

If you want the latest technology and the most headroom for the future (watchOS updates only last so long, y’know), get the Series 9 — especially if you can snag one on sale. Everyone else will be just fine with the Series 8, which continues to be one of the best smartwatches on the market.