Apple unveils Watch Series 9 with new processor and hands-free features

Users can now tap with their fingers – like on upcoming Vision Pro headset

Apple has unveiled its new Watch, with a new, faster processor and hands-free features.

The Apple Watch Series 9 brings an updated chip that makes the phone up to 30 per cent faster, Apple said. That should make animations and effects smoother, it said, as well as allowing for new features.

In addition to those new tools, the Watch Series 9 is Apple’s first carbon neutral product. That has been achieved by a range of changes, including dropping leather from its bands and all new products.

Those include a new feature called “Double Tap”, which lets people control their Watch without actually touching it. By clicking their two fingers together – the same gesture as on the upcoming Vision Pro headset – users can click buttons on the screen.

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Apple said the feature would be useful when the other hand is occupied, such as when carrying a coffee or walking the dog, for instance. It may also be helpful for accessibility, and Apple has already rolled out similar features as part of those tools.

The new feature relies on the machine learning smarts within the new chip, Apple said, which are able to analyse data from the sensors “in a completely new way”. It watches for the changes in movement and “blood flow” that happen when people bring their fingers together, and then uses that to click.

(Apple)

The new processor will also allow Siri requests to be processed on the Apple Watch itself, which should make them faster and more secure. The most common requests no longer have to go to the cloud, Apple said, so that they should not be impeded by slow WiFi or data connections.

Apple will also let people ask Siri for health data, which it said was powered by the new hardware, though did not explain exactly why. Users can ask how much they slept, for instance.

Dictation will also be improved by that chip. It can run a more smart machine learning model, which should make dictation up to 25 per cent more accurate.

The chip will also make the Watch better at finding its paired iPhone. Apple has always offered the option to ping the phone, but the Watch will now offer the distance and direction to the iPhone.

A similar feature will work with the HomePod. When the Apple Watch comes close to that smart speaker, it will offer media suggestions for what to listen to.

The Series 9 also brings a new display. It now goes up to 2,000 nits – making it easier to see outside – as well as going all the way down to one nit, for dark situations.