The Apple Watch SE is the more budget-friendly version of Apple's wrist-worn device. It's not as feature rich as the Apple Watch 10 (launched at Apple's September Glowtime event in September 2024) or as rugged as the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
But it excels at the basics, allowing you to uncouple from your phone, receive notifications, and get access to most (but not all) of the health and fitness tracking features of the best Apple Watches for a lot less money.
But it's been over two years since Apple announced the Apple Watch SE (2022), so it'd make sense that the company would launch an updated model of the budget-friendly wearable.
Initial predictions suggested we'd see it launch alongside the Apple Watch 10. That didn't happen, so if we do get a new model this year, it'd likely be announced to the world at Apple's September 2025 event.
But the new model would face greater competition than before. Samsung just revealed its lower-cost Galaxy Watch FE watch in June 2024 for $199 featuring BioActive health monitoring and the latest Wear OS updates.
Here's everything we know so far about the Apple Watch SE 3, including predictions for price, design, features and its overall outlook.
Apple Watch SE 3 Cheat Sheet: Biggest rumors
- Release date prediction: September 2025
- Price prediction: $199 to $249 and up
- Design: Same basic design as the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch SE (2022), though potentially slightly larger; Apple may switch from a metal case to a plastic one to keep costs and weight down
- Display: More durable display, same screen as the 2022
- Chip: S9 chip
- Features: Possible, ECG tracking and AI-driven health/fitness tracking
- Software: watchOS 12
Apple Watch SE 3: price and availability
An early report on the Apple Watch SE 3 indicated that the smartwatch would arrive in 2024. Although it didn't make an appearance at Apple's fall product event on September 9, 2024, so the earliest we'd expect it now would be fall 2025.
As for price, the current SE model starts $249 for the 40mm size and $279 for the 44mm variant. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims that Apple may release the SE at even lower price, which would be a nice surprise.
The lower price may come from some design decisions Apple is reportedly making with the new watch — more on that below.
Apple Watch SE 3: design and display
One big change that Apple might make with the SE 3 is moving from a partially metal body to an all-plastic version. Allegedly, Apple is toying with the idea in an attempt to reduce costs and speed up production.
The 2022 models already changed the case to a nylon composite plastic, but the shell remained aluminum. The change would make the device less environmentally friendly, though, and Apple has been pushing to increase the sustainability of its products.
The only other Apple Watch SE 3 report we've seen comes from analyst David Hsieh of Omdia who claims that Apple might make the SE 3 watches bigger. According to Hsieh, the SE 3 might have similar size options as the Apple Watch 8, meaning it's moving up from 40mm and 44mm to 41mm and 45mm.
That would match the size of smartwatches from other manufacturers including the recently released Google Pixel Watch 3. Hsieh's report dates back to January 2023, though, so it may no longer be in line with Apple's plans.
A bigger iPhone SE would mean about 20% more screen real estate on the display. We've seen no display reports for the SE 3, but the 2022 model features an OLED screen with a Retina display, something we don't see changing.
Apple Watch SE 3: Specs and features
We know very little about the next-gen SE as Apple has kept its cards close to its chest, but we expect it will launch with at least the S9 chip. If Apple is being generous, perhaps the S10, which launched with the Apple Watch 10.
Briefly, we have no word on the SE 3's potential battery but the 2022 version had a 245 mAh battery that lasted about 18 hours. We expect at a minimum a bigger battery with some software optimization to maybe crack the 24-hour mark.
The Apple Watch 7 introduced fast charging to Apple's watch lineup, but the SE 2022 did not get that feature. We imagine the third-generation SE watch will probably get fast charging.
The Apple Watch SE 3 will more than likely bring features from the Watch 8 and Watch 9 but it's unclear what ones. The SE watches have focused on essential health tracking, with more advanced tracking slated for the flagship watches.
We're not sure what Apple will consider essential between 2022 and now, though we could see ECG tracking finally make its way into the SE, something that has been available in the main series since 2018.
As for software, it's most likely the SE 3 will launch with watchOS 12, the next iteration of it's wearable operating system. The company usually refreshes watchOS each September, with the latest — watchOS 11 — launching alongside the Watch Series 10.
Apple Watch SE 3: Outlook
If what we've heard so far is right, then the Apple Watch SE 3 could be a big update to the budget-friendly model from 2022. Apple often debuts watches in September, so it'll be three years since the last version of the SE if the company releases the new model this year.
But what would really make the budget wearable more attractive is the price. With Google slowly killing Fitbit and transitioning the company's smartwatches to Android-only Pixel Watch models, Apple could fill the void left by the cheaper Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4.
It's clear that Apple sees these smartwatches as a critical part of its lineup, even using the first announcement of it's September 2024 Glowtime event to launch the Apple Watch Series 10. While we may not know much for certain yet, 2025 could be a great year for fans of the value-focused watch.
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