THE APPLE WATCH CHRONICLES: DISCOVERING THE PERFECT TIMEPIECE FOR YOU

With technology governing our lives, the world is on the hunt for the best smartwatch, finding its path to the orchard of Apple's innovations. In this article, we highlight the Apple Watches to be released in 2024 and give a comparison between the latest variants, aiming to help you reveal the model that fits your life, and complies with your needs.

THE EVOLUTION OF APPLE WATCH: A COMPANION FOR EVERY OCCASION

From a high-end fitness tracker it has become a wider life organiser rigged up to mediate various measures of health. A device that can keep count of your heart rate and visually tell you to get up and walk a few steps has grown into your ticket for the plane, the weather forecaster, the avatar that ushers you into mindful moments. The Apple Watch has become an essential part of everyday life.

IDENTIFYING THE CROWN JEWEL: THE BEST APPLE WATCH

I have a confession. Ever since I was handed the Apple Watch Series 1 in April 2015, I have worn every model, significant and minor, each day, year-round. I charge them every night as I go to bed, and I use them to manage my daily life – meeting deadlines, travelling, running, hiking, paddling, skiing, design work, writing, listening to podcasts and music, maps, taking photos, and literally everything in between. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the best smartwatch that I have tried so far. This is of course as a smartwatch and not necessarily as a watch. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the largest Apple Watch ever made, giving you the biggest screen ever, and it also packs in over 24 hours worth of battery life, with a new emergency siren.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE ELITE: THE BEST APPLE WATCHES OF 2024

Apple Watch Ultra 2

With a beautiful high-colour sapphire crystal-edges display and a titanium case shrouded in rugged practicality, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a robust, functional extension of the self, durable in the harshest outdoor adventures and everyday use.

Apple Watch Series 9

This Series 9 embodies enhanced health and interconnectedness; health sensors ‘with advanced capabilities’, and ‘a new generation of Siri’. Here are the incremental improvements to wellbeing, and your daily interactions – all consolidated in its slim structure.

Apple Watch SE

At a fraction of the cost, the Apple Watch SE brings key functionality to a mainstream product. If you want a watch to track your health and safety, Apple owns a managed ecosystem. It’s in that ‘entry-level’ product that you’ll find it.

Apple Watch Series 7

A Series 7 is instantly identifiable by its colour choices and superior specs, such as a larger screen and faster charging. The Series 7 is still a great option, especially if it’s a refurbished one.

Apple Watch Hermès

If you want to telegraph your individuality, there is the Apple Watch Hermès, which takes the features of the Series 9 and dresses them up with Hermès design for that special combination of luxury and exclusivity.

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR APPLE WATCH

But the best Apple Watch for you depends on several factors, such as your comfort with display size, your feature requirements, and – frankly – your wallet. Great for those who want the most innovative, durable Apple Watch possible The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the most overwhelmingly innovative, highly cared-for Apple Watch you can buy. It’s not cheap. But it does include everything else in the Apple Watch arsenal, at least for the moment. Most varied feature set for health, convenience and running The Series 9 might be the most balanced Apple Watch for people who like to have everything. It has everything the others do, with Apple’s best balance of health and convenience features. Good entry point for the Apple Watch featureset The SE is a good Apple Watch for people with budget constraints. Those who want a bonus in looks or luxury Image courtesy Apple Watch Hermès. For those who care about looks and luxury, the Series 7 and Apple Watch Hermès are great choices.

EXPERT INSIGHTS AND METHODOLOGY

Based on years of hands-on Apple Watch experience, combined with an understanding of user needs and market trends, these suggestions will help you navigate Apple’s vast lineup. Every model was scored against a set of criteria for a good user experience: health features, durability, affordability, and more.

A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP: THE APPLE WATCH AND IPHONE

It is impossible to use an Apple Watch to its fullest extent if it is not an iPhone in hand that works as the gateway to its explanation as well as richer, more integrated use. If anything, Apple’s Family Set-up works to open up the door to this remarkable ecosystem, allowing one iPhone to set up watches for multiple family members.

THE MULTIFACETED ROLES OF THE APPLE WATCH

At its heart, every Apple Watch is a guardian of your health, a navigator of your day, and a doorway to your digital world. It helps you move, remembers where you’ve been, and leaves you free to do what matters. It’s a health companion, a world guide, and a true companion for today.

UNDERSTANDING APPLE

As these columns illustrate, the secret to these innovations is the electronics company Apple, already famous for insinuating technology into our lives, while constantly reinventing those lives. As the Apple Watch has helped us start to redefine what we expect from smartwatches, it also points to what wearables can – in theory – become. For Apple, the Watch is a demonstration of its mission to make us more connected, more healthy and more efficient than ever before.