Apple Watch Series 8 brings tiny but important feature upgrades: Here’s what’s new

• Apple introduced its Watch Series 8, Watch SE and Watch Ultra at the Far Out event.
  
• The Watch Series 8 will be available from September 16.
  
• The watch has a new feature to help women track their ovulation period.

Apple has announced the Watch Series 8, Watch SE and Watch Ultra at its Far Out event. The Cupertino-giant also unveiled the highly anticipated iPhone 14 series and Airpods Pro 2. The event kicked off with the Apple Watch Series 8, and there’s much to discuss here. Though the Apple Watch Series 8 looks the same as the Watch Series 7, it does pack some noteworthy features, especially for women.

The Watch Series 8 doesn’t come with any physical upgrades. It retains the edge-to-edge display and a waterproof design. It has health and fitness features like an ECG sensor, blood oxygen, heartbeat sensor and everything from the Watch Series 7. The new addition is the temperature sensor.

Apple has used two sensors - one at the bottom and the other behind the display. The two-sensor design helps give you accurate temperature by reducing bias from the outside. It can even track temperature changes of as small as 0.1-degree. These sensors track temperature data that comes in handy to check body temperature but also benefit women. It tracks temperature every five seconds, and based on these readings, it can allow women to track their ovulation insights. Women can get a retrospective ovulation estimate that can help them know about their time of conception.

Another notable feature this time is ‘Crash Detection’. It’s similar to the existing ‘Fall Detection’ feature, but for emergencies like a car crash. In case of a car accident, the Watch Series 8 automatically connects you with emergency services, shares your location and sends a notification to your emergency contacts. The smartwatch uses motion sensors to identify such accidents.

Apple is also claiming significant improvement in battery life. With up to 18 hours of backup after a full charge, it still stands close to its predecessor. However, enabling the ‘Low Power’ mode can last up to 36 hours. Note that enabling the low power will restrict the watch's usability and will only use activity tracking and fall detection.

Price and Availability
Apple Watch Series 8 will be available from September 16, 2022. It will be available for ₹45900. The watch will be available in four colours- midnight, starlight, silver and red, whereas the stainless steel model will be available in silver, gold and graphite.

Compared to Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE is available at a more reasonable price of ₹29900. The Watch SE will also have International roaming, crash detection, motion sensors and an S8 chip like the Watch Series 8.
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