Last Tuesday, Apple announced the latest version of the Apple Watch and it has taken much of the spotlight away from the new iPhones everyone was expecting to be drooling over. One top analyst has stated that between 80-90% of all pre-orders following Apple’s latest keynote were for the latest Watch offering. That leaves only 10-20% of pre-orders going to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, Apple TV 4K and other new available offerings.
So what’s the big deal?
The biggest feature to be added to the Series 3 watches is cellular connectivity. This will allow you to use many features like calling, texting, music streaming and more without requiring your phone be nearby. This is leading to a number of bloggers considering if in the future most won’t want to ditch a phone altogether for a combo of a watch and some wireless headphones. I’m not sure if they are just seeking to fill some nostalgic Knight Rider or Dick Tracy fantasy or if a world of Science Fiction world of screens might be in our future. However I do know that there are a number of health enhancements that are coming along with the new release.
There are both hardware and software changes coming with Series 3 and WatchOS 4. There is a new altimeter being added to the watches for various fitness tracking applications. On the software side, the greatest enhancement is in the Heart Rate app and tracking. With the latest version, the Apple Watch will be looking at a number of different heart rate metrics.
Resting Heart Rate
Your resting heart rate is measured when your body is at rest. In the morning right after you wake up is a great time to measure this. It can be a leading indicator for how well your body is recovered from intense exercise and to see gains in your overall fitness. There is a great article on RunnersConnect Coach’s Corner that covers how to use resting heart rate data.
Walking Heart Rate
The new Apple Watch will monitor your activity capturing those moments you are walking to ensure that your heart rate isn’t racing too high unnecessarily.
Recovery Heart Rate
The new Recovery Heart Rate metric is probably my favorite. This measures your heart when it’s under stress (from an intense workout) and at regular intervals afterward. This is a great indicator for seeing how well your fitness is coming along and how strong your heart is.
Other Enhancements
There are a number of other health enhancements like additional workout type selections, new activity rewards, a flashlight mode for late night excursions and more. But of all the latest news, I’m probably most excited about some potential features focused on glucose sensing and tracking that may be coming down the pike. (The latest Dexcom monitors will be able to sync with the watch as well.)
Many believed that the Apple Watch was already one of the best Health monitoring devices on the market and all these additions are widening the gap. Now I just need to convince my wife that it justifies the upgrade from Series 2 to Series 3 🙂
Oh, and there’s cool new Toy Story watch faces!
Please like, share and comment below. Are you considering picking up a Series 3 Apple Watch? Have a good one!
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