The Apple Watch 7 and Apple Watch 8 differ in some high-end health and safety features Apple added to the new model. Here’s our feature-by-feature comparison.
This year’s Apple Watch Series 8 and last year’s Apple Watch Series 7 are strikingly similar, both offering a vast array of fitness and functionality that far exceed any competing smartwatch brand currently available. The biggest distinctions between the Watch 7 and Watch 8 are some high-end health and safety features that Apple has added to the newest model.
Instead of piling a load of specialty features and updates onto its general audience of iPhone users, Apple opted to break out and target high-end sports enthusiasts with a brand new Apple Watch Ultra that’s engineered especially for the adventurous crowd. For the rest of us perhaps trying to decide if or when to replace an older civilian model, Apple has made the decision much easier with the mid-tier Apple Watch 8. We compare and contrast the new Apple Watch Series 8 and the Apple Watch Series 7 to detail what has changed and what has stayed the same.
At first glance, it’s hard to tell the difference between the 2021 Apple Watch Series 7 and the new Apple Watch Series 8. They both sport the same signature square Apple Watch design, dimensions, and weight and are available in the same 41mm and 45mm case sizes. There are a few subtle differences in colors and finishes. The Apple Watch Series 8 comes in aluminum and stainless steel only, while the Series 7 offered a titanium option, which now appears to be reserved exclusively for the hard-core, adventure-centric Apple Watch Ultra. Both versions have the same color choices for the stainless steel models — silver, gold, Graphite, and Space Black — though Series 7 has more color options on the aluminum models, including blue, green, red, Starlight, and Midnight. Series 8 eliminated the green and blue hues but added silver while keeping the red, Starlight, and Midnight colors.
The 41mm Apple Watch Series 8 features an always-on LTPO Retina OLED display with a resolution of 352 x 430 pixels, while the 45mm model resolution is 396 x 484 pixels — identical to the previous models. The aluminum model’s screen is covered by the Ion-X front glass, while the premium stainless steel model gets the tougher sapphire crystal covering. The screen can reach a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, while the storage capacity is 32GB, both the same as the Apple Watch Series 7. New watch faces for Series 8 include Lunar, Astronomy, Modular, and Metropolitan.
There’s no immediate visible difference between the two Apple Watch models. This is a draw.
Winner: Tie
The Apple Watch Series 8 features a new dual-core S8 system-in-chip that Apple says is 20% faster than the S7 chip of the previous generation. Connectivity for the new series includes LTE, Wi-fi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless pairing with other devices — the same as its predecessor.
