The new Apple Watch Series 4 made its debut recently with some fresh updates. First and foremost, the screen on the Apple Watch is 30% bigger compared to its predecessors measuring at 44mm for the bigger watch and 40mm for the smaller watch. It now has a thickness of 10.7mm down from 11.7mm found in its predecessors.
New Apple Watches also mean new hardware. The watch now packs a newer 64-bit S4 processor and a low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) OLED display which uses less power despite the increase in display size. The infamous Digital Crown, the knob on the side of the watch now has haptic feedback, improved optical heart sensor, accelerometer and a gyroscope.
The improved accelerometer is able to detect up to 32 G-forces mainly for Apple’s new fall detection feature. Apple has came up with an algorithm for the accelerometer to detect any hard falls. This algorithm will then send an alert to the user, either to call for emergency services or to dismiss it. If the user does not respond to the alert within a minute, it will automatically make an SOS call to emergency services, which is a very useful feature.
Besides that, the new Apple Watch has a new electrical heart sensor built into the crown and the back of the watch. The electrical heart sensor works together with the optical heart sensor to detect the heart rate level to notify the user of low heart rate or increased heart rate reading. Apple claims that the new electrical heart sensor is capable of taking electrocardiogram (ECG) readings. However, this will only be available in the US later this year once the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given approval to Apple.
What’s also new in the Apple Watch is an all ceramic and sapphire crystal back and storage capacity of 16GB as opposed to 8GB in the old model. No IP certification is available for the watch but it has waterproofing of up to 50m, which is the same as its predecessor.
The Apple Watch Series 4 is available in 2 different models; Apple Watch and Apple Watch Nike+. Both models are available in Silver and Space Grey and the former is also available in Gold. Pricing for the new Apple Watch starts from RM1,749.
