Apple Watch Series 8's S8 chip may not be a big upgrade from S7

Posted:
in Apple Watch
The Apple Watch Series 8's S8 chip probably won't be any faster than the S&, it is rumored, with three inbound Apple Watch models expected to use the same chip across the board.




Alongside the usual update to the Apple Watch Series 8, the company's wearable line is thought to consist of three distinct models. While there will be some variation on the outside and in key specifications, the trio may all use the same largely-unchanged chip.

Apple is reportedly working on the standard Series 8, an updated Apple Watch SE, and a rugged model for extreme sports, Mark Gurman's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg reads. However, all three are believed to be using identical S8 chips.

The S8 won't necessarily be faster than the S7 found in the Apple Watch Series 7, it is reckoned, as it will apparently have the same specifications as both the S7 and S6 before it. However, the 2023 models are reportedly going to get an "all-new processor."

On model-specific changes, the value-focused Apple Watch SE will retain the same screen size as its current iteration. The update to the S8 will be a big jump from the S5 currently used by it.

With the dropping of support for the Apple Watch Series 3 in watchOS 9, it is suspected that Apple could drop the current SE down to the Series 3 price point, turning a new SE into a mid-tier alternative.

Previous rumors include the Series 8 gaining an extra screen size, as well as a new flatter design philosophy.

Read on AppleInsider
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    bluefire1bluefire1 Posts: 1,300member
    Every article I’ve read here and elsewhere predict that the iPhones 14 models  and Apple Watch 8 will be minimum upgrades, and the 2023 versions will be significant upgrades. We’ll see.
    edited June 2022
  • Reply 2 of 29
    Well now I’m glad I just bought my S7 green Apple Watch. Doesn’t sound like the S8 is going to be much of an upgrade and I won’t be missing out on much. 
    lkrupp
  • Reply 3 of 29
    Correct me if my memory is wrong, but wasn’t the S7 a negligible update over the S6? And wasn’t the S5 almost the same as the S4? Apple hasn’t exactly made all that much progress with the S-series System-in-Packages for the Apple Watch in quite a while. Not faulting them, as I am almost totally ignorant of this stuff, but … yeah, it’s not a big surprise that the S8 isn’t going to be much of an improvement, but it also is a little disappointing.
    lkruppwilliamlondon
  • Reply 4 of 29
    ApplePoorApplePoor Posts: 286member
    I expect the S8 will support new "features" or "programs" that will NOT work on prior models due to minor tweaks. One might expect more memory for data and a "new" shape case that would be incompatible will the prior watch bands due to a connector change.

    My S7 does everything I want it to as a watch, alarm clock, timer, and even cell phone will all kinds of controls for other bluetooth devices and has lots of battery remaining even though I seem to get 20 hours of standing credit most days. I got the larger screen model to be able to read it without glasses.
  • Reply 5 of 29
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,714member
    Correct me if my memory is wrong, but wasn’t the S7 a negligible update over the S6? And wasn’t the S5 almost the same as the S4? Apple hasn’t exactly made all that much progress with the S-series System-in-Packages for the Apple Watch in quite a while. Not faulting them, as I am almost totally ignorant of this stuff, but … yeah, it’s not a big surprise that the S8 isn’t going to be much of an improvement, but it also is a little disappointing.
    The Apple Watch is far more about the sensors than the specs of the processor or memory.  The S6 (model I own) gained a single-lead ECG and a blood oxygen sensor.  The S7 wasn't much of an upgrade at all though.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 6 of 29
    petripetri Posts: 118member
    auxio said:
    Correct me if my memory is wrong, but wasn’t the S7 a negligible update over the S6? And wasn’t the S5 almost the same as the S4? Apple hasn’t exactly made all that much progress with the S-series System-in-Packages for the Apple Watch in quite a while. Not faulting them, as I am almost totally ignorant of this stuff, but … yeah, it’s not a big surprise that the S8 isn’t going to be much of an improvement, but it also is a little disappointing.
    The Apple Watch is far more about the sensors than the specs of the processor or memory.  The S6 (model I own) gained a single-lead ECG and a blood oxygen sensor.  The S7 wasn't much of an upgrade at all though.
    Actually the S4 (that I have) introduced the ECG function.  Progress is slow with the Apple Watch, it doesn’t make big jumps each year, but I think that’s ok.  For new buyers it’s easily the best out there, and most existing customers don’t expect or want to think about replacing a watch that often.  My S4 still performs well and does all that I want of it, I’ll wear it till it breaks or the battery dies, and by then the S12 or whatever I end up upgrading to will be a revolution I'm sure.
    sphericDAalsethBeatselijahg
  • Reply 7 of 29
    dk49dk49 Posts: 266member
    How dissappointing. Even 7 uses the same chip as 6. So we will be two generations behind now. Perfect. 
    Beatsviclauyycwilliamlondon
  • Reply 8 of 29
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,540member
    The incremental upgrades on the Apple Watch are not geared towards people upgrading every year, or even every two. I went from a 0 to a 6, and probably won’t upgrade again until a series 9 or 10 at the earliest. 
    lolliverentropysurahara
  • Reply 9 of 29
    mr lizardmr lizard Posts: 354member
    dk49 said:
    How dissappointing. Even 7 uses the same chip as 6. So we will be two generations behind now. Perfect. 
    Behind what?
    lollivermacguientropysdewmemike1uraharaStrangeDayselijahgwilliamlondon
  • Reply 10 of 29
    mr lizardmr lizard Posts: 354member
    spheric said:
    The incremental upgrades on the Apple Watch are not geared towards people upgrading every year, or even every two. I went from a 0 to a 6, and probably won’t upgrade again until a series 9 or 10 at the earliest. 
    Exactly this. The only reason Apple would significantly bump the chip is if the watch had more sensors that the current crop of chips couldn’t handle.

    How many series 6/7 owners are complaining that their watches are too slow
    lollivermike1StrangeDays
  • Reply 11 of 29
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    mr lizard said:
    spheric said:
    The incremental upgrades on the Apple Watch are not geared towards people upgrading every year, or even every two. I went from a 0 to a 6, and probably won’t upgrade again until a series 9 or 10 at the earliest. 
    Exactly this. The only reason Apple would significantly bump the chip is if the watch had more sensors that the current crop of chips couldn’t handle.

    How many series 6/7 owners are complaining that their watches are too slow
    Exactly. I have a 6 and it works just fine. Like @spheric said I’ll likely wait for the 11 or so before I’ll need to update. 
    lolliver
  • Reply 12 of 29
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    First of all, I just had to sign in, and I find it funny that we can’t “Sign In With Apple” on one of the biggest, and best known Apple fan sites, while we can on most of their competitors. What’s up AI?

    ok, I’ve had every watch model since the second. I’ve noticed the changes in features, battery life, and performance. I believe that unless Apple has some new feature that requires a big jump in processor power, it doesn’t need a serious bump in performance at this time. What it needs, each generation, is an increase in efficiency. We see Apple doing that in performance per watt with the A and the M series, and we need it even more for the S series for the watch. With the second year watch, I was getting a full two days of battery life. Even a bit more. Now, with all the features, including the always on screen, I’m lucky to get through 24 hours. So, in a certain sense, that’s two steps backwards.

    I would be very happy if we got no new features this year, but got a 25% jump in battery life. Apple really needs to get back to two days again, but with all the features working. We’ve been waiting for the MicroLED screens Apple’s been working on for over half a decade now. Those should consume less than half the power of the current screens while being even brighter at max, for outdoors. That would be the killer feature if, along with some smaller efficiencies, Apple could double battery life.
    muthuk_vanalingamBeatsuraharastompyviclauyycStrangeDayselijahg
  • Reply 13 of 29
    Correct me if my memory is wrong, but wasn’t the S7 a negligible update over the S6? And wasn’t the S5 almost the same as the S4? Apple hasn’t exactly made all that much progress with the S-series System-in-Packages for the Apple Watch in quite a while. Not faulting them, as I am almost totally ignorant of this stuff, but … yeah, it’s not a big surprise that the S8 isn’t going to be much of an improvement, but it also is a little disappointing.
    Not in my opinion. My first watch was the S4 I I felt very disappointed and I hardly ever wore it. mainly because the screen kept going dark and Raise to Wake and Tap to Wake were not very good solutions for me. The S5 was crucial for me because the screen stayed on all the time, although the screen seemed too dark for me.  Going from the S5 to the S6 was an even bigger jump. The screen was 2 ½ brighter when it was face down which addressed my biggest complaint with the S5. It was also 20% faster and had a U1 chip. There was also a pretty big jump between the S6 and the S7. The S7 saw another 20% speed boost and a substantial increase in display size. The larger display size is what I was most interested in. The S7 also received a better charger and cable. But if the rumors are true then I probably will skip the S8.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 14 of 29
    charlesncharlesn Posts: 808member
    mr lizard said:
    dk49 said:
    How dissappointing. Even 7 uses the same chip as 6. So we will be two generations behind now. Perfect. 
    Behind what?
    New models of processor-driven Apple products generally get at least a spec bump, if not a new processor. We didn't get either with the Watch 7 and, if the rumors hold, won't get one for the Watch 8, which puts us two generations behind in terms of Apple's norm. I think the bigger question is the need for a speedier processor. Unless there's a new functionality that demands it, my Watch 7 is as snappy and fast as it needs to be, which is to say the Watch 6 was, as well. While I understand Apple's desire to update Watch yearly, it's harder than its other regularly updated products to come up with good reasons why. 
    edited June 2022 Beatswilliamlondon
  • Reply 15 of 29
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    I'm confident that when Apple introduces a new Watch or any other product, they know whether or not it's to get people who bought last year's tech to upgrade, or to get first time buyers to bust a move.

    The people who look forward to upgrading the tech they bought last year with new iron coming out this year comprise a very small segment of the market, like those who just have to get the newest phone every year. Their money, their prerogative, fine by me. Most buyer are content to skip a generation or two.

    I tend to skip a model year or more unless the next Watch has a feature I can't live without 9pun intended). But I had an S6 in blue, and decided I wanted one in green. So there's the S7. None of them are cellular so maybe there'll be an S8 in my future. Or a clearance S7.

    Apple isn't "behind" in anything. It's their schedule and unless they announced something and didn't ship or didn't ship when they wanted to, they're right on schedule as far as we know. They're norm is what they say it is.

    As far as signing in to AI or any other site that doesn't contain my financial information, I just use Safari generated passwords stored in iCloud. Touch ID, Face ID, or two clicks and I'm in. I have to log into AI every few days and it's quick and convenient for me.
    mike1StrangeDays
  • Reply 16 of 29
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    macgui said:
    I'm confident that when Apple introduces a new Watch or any other product, they know whether or not it's to get people who bought last year's tech to upgrade, or to get first time buyers to bust a move.

    The people who look forward to upgrading the tech they bought last year with new iron coming out this year comprise a very small segment of the market, like those who just have to get the newest phone every year. Their money, their prerogative, fine by me. Most buyer are content to skip a generation or two.

    I tend to skip a model year or more unless the next Watch has a feature I can't live without 9pun intended). But I had an S6 in blue, and decided I wanted one in green. So there's the S7. None of them are cellular so maybe there'll be an S8 in my future. Or a clearance S7.

    Apple isn't "behind" in anything. It's their schedule and unless they announced something and didn't ship or didn't ship when they wanted to, they're right on schedule as far as we know. They're norm is what they say it is.

    As far as signing in to AI or any other site that doesn't contain my financial information, I just use Safari generated passwords stored in iCloud. Touch ID, Face ID, or two clicks and I'm in. I have to log into AI every few days and it's quick and convenient for me.
    I agree with everything here, except the last paragraph. Most of the people here are Apple users, and we all sign in the same way you do. But, I’m with Melgross  on this one. As one of the largest Apple news and rumors site, AI should have Sign in with Apple as an option. 
    BeatsStrangeDays
  • Reply 17 of 29
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,148member
    mr lizard said:
    dk49 said:
    How dissappointing. Even 7 uses the same chip as 6. So we will be two generations behind now. Perfect. 
    Behind what?
    The Apple Watch series 9.
    Beatsstompy
  • Reply 18 of 29
    CheeseFreezeCheeseFreeze Posts: 1,246member
    The Apple Watch is the true definition of a commodity product. You won’t unlock a whole lot of features with an updated processor or sensor anymore, until a more revolutionary update that happens every decade or so. 

    If your watch breaks, and you want a new one, you get the new one, but I’m not exactly holding off a purchase because the next watch will measure my penis length or make me aware of how fast I’m turning grey. The base feature-set is already there regardless.
    BeatsStrangeDayswilliamlondon
  • Reply 19 of 29
    macapfelmacapfel Posts: 575member
    mr lizard said:
    spheric said:
    The incremental upgrades on the Apple Watch are not geared towards people upgrading every year, or even every two. I went from a 0 to a 6, and probably won’t upgrade again until a series 9 or 10 at the earliest. 
    Exactly this. The only reason Apple would significantly bump the chip is if the watch had more sensors that the current crop of chips couldn’t handle.

    How many series 6/7 owners are complaining that their watches are too slow
    Mine is always a minute or two behind.
    avon b7Beatswilliamlondon
  • Reply 20 of 29
    So the S7 used the same chip as the S6 so does this mean the S8 will use the same chip set again. 
    According to Gurman, the S8 chip in the new HomePod will have the same specifications as the S7 chip, which was also the same as the S6 used in 2020's Apple Watch Series 6.
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