Apple Watch Series 11 vs Series 9: are to years enough to evolve?
Intro
Ah, the Apple Watch — our ever-faithful wrist companion that gets a refresh every 12 months or so. You'd think by now the innovation well would be running a bit dry... oh wait, it does feel like it has. Apple is often criticized for the Watch being the same iteration, year in and year out. Will the Series 11 change that and how will it compare to the Series 9?Now, if you're still rocking a Series 9 and wondering whether the shiny new Series 11 is worth ditching your current timepiece for, let's talk. The Series 9 already brought us the zippy S9 chip, Double Tap magic, and some notably brighter displays. It felt like a mature product. Refined. Confident.So, what can Series 11 possibly offer that 9 didn't already nail?Well, we should get the slightly reworked chassis that came with the Series 10 — growing the 41 mm and 45 mm sizes of the Series 9 to 42 mm and 46 mm — and a sprinkle of Apple's annual 'new colors' fairy dust. A new chip? Most likely. Game-changing features? That's where it gets murky. Health sensors? Maybe one more. Software tricks? Definitely, but watchOS updates don't tend to discriminate by hardware year.So, Series 11 vs Series 9 — how much has changed, and how much is Apple just giving us déjà vu with a new paint job?Let's break it down:
Table of Contents:
Design & Sizes
Slightly thinner bezels!
Now, this leaves us with two possibilities. One — Apple has gone full Mission: Impossible with secrecy protocols. Or two — there's just not that much to leak.
And let's be honest—option two feels far more plausible. In an age where entire product roadmaps get dissected months in advance, radio silence usually means we're looking at more of a Series 9S+ than a bold leap forward.
Would you believe it if I told you that, here in the year 2025, we still know next to nothing about the Apple Watch Series 11 ? No leaks. No blurry CAD renders. Not even a stray tweet from someone's cousin who once saw a prototype on a Foxconn engineer's wrist. Nada.Now, this leaves us with two possibilities. One — Apple has gone full Mission: Impossible with secrecy protocols. Or two — there's just not that much to leak.And let's be honest—option two feels far more plausible. In an age where entire product roadmaps get dissected months in advance, radio silence usually means we're looking at more of a Series 9S+ than a bold leap forward.
The new model should, at the very least, get slightly thinner bezels and an even more "all-screen" feel to it. And we know that because this is what the Series 10 did — it upgraded the display size to 42 mm / 46 mm from 41 mm / 45 mm.
So if you were holding your breath for a revolution, maybe start breathing normally again. From what we can gather, the Series 11 is shaping up to be more of a quiet iteration than a headline-grabber. A familiar face—with a fresh coat of paint.
The Watch 11 may come in Aluminum / Titanium options as the Series 10 did. However, rumor is that Apple is moving away from titanium for its iPhone Pro models this year, so maybe the Watch will do the same and go back to stainless steel again? Currently unknown.
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