It’s been 10 years since the launch of the first Apple Watch and while some things have stayed the same throughout that time — it’s still square, for one — the watch has changed a lot in the past decade.
I’ve tested every Apple Watch from the original through to the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, and used them to track a lot of workouts, especially running — I’ve run six marathons while wearing an Apple Watch.
In the last 10 years the Apple Watch has become one of the best sports watches available thanks to the many upgrades made to the watch.
To celebrate the anniversary, here are what I consider to be the 10 biggest sports tracking features added to the watch in the past 10 years.
Built-in GPS — Series 2
The original Apple Watch could track runs and other workouts but didn’t have built-in GPS, which reduced the accuracy of the tracking for outdoor training.
This was the key upgrade on the Apple Watch Series 2 for me, which also added pool and open-water swimming modes and made the watch waterproof to 50m.
Improved HR sensor — Series 4
In 2018 Apple launched the Apple Watch Series 4 which offered new features like ECG measurements that relied on a new and improved optical heart rate sensor.
I found this new sensor was much more accurate when tracking my heart rate during workouts, and ever since the Series 4 the Apple Watch has been one of the most consistently accurate sports watches for heart rate tracking.
Always-on screen — Series 5
The always-on screen that arrived with the Apple Watch Series 5 made it much easier to use during workouts because you no longer had to turn your wrist to see your stats.
Action button — Apple Watch Ultra
The Apple Watch Series 6 and 7 didn’t have a lot of upgrades aside from some new sports modes including Pilates and functional strength training, but Apple came out swinging in 2022 with the launch of the Apple Watch Ultra.
This featured several sporty upgrades, including an extra button which you could use to take a lap during workouts. I found the Action button immediately made it a better running watch in particular.
Apple also launched the Apple Watch Series 8 that year, which was a nice upgrade but ultimately overshadowed by the Ultra.
Dual-band GPS and precision start — Apple Watch Ultra
Two other major upgrades on the Apple Watch Ultra also pushed it into sports territory: dual-band GPS makes it a more accurate tracker during outdoor workouts, and precision start means you could see that you had GPS lock-on before starting a workout.
I’ve found the Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to be among the most accurate watches for GPS tracking, especially in city centers where tall buildings make pinpointing a signal more difficult.
More data fields — Apple Watch Series 8
Extra data fields and running metrics also arrived on the Apple Watch in 2022, including split pace, which is the stat I use to judge many of my runs and races.
This update also included a useful Pacer mode which I’ve used to help me pace marathons and other workouts.
Multisport mode — Apple Watch Series 8
Another huge update from 2022, the Apple Watch started to offer a multisport mode so triathletes could track their races and multi-discipline workouts more easily.
The watch is smart enough to recognise when you change between sports itself and automatically transitions for you, but you can also choose manual transitions if you prefer to be in control.
Longer battery life — Apple Watch Ultra
The Apple Watch is unlikely to ever match the battery life of the best Garmin watches, and the Series watches have stuck to the same 18-hour battery life for many years. However, the Apple Watch Ultra lineup doubles that number.
This makes it a lot more usable for tracking long runs and other workouts, and I found even when tracking a marathon with the Apple Watch Ultra that it would last around two days on a charge.
Structured workouts — Apple Watch Series 8
There are lots of great Apple Watch apps that have offered a structured workout builder for years, but it became a native feature within the Workout app in 2022.
Apple’s custom workout builder is impressively easy to use as well, and you can create workouts to follow on your wrist quickly, using targets like time, distance and heart rate.
Training load — Apple Watch Series 10 and Ultra
Training analysis is an area where sports watches have long offered more than the Apple Watch, but the addition of training load to the watch in 2024 has closed the gap.
This allows you to rate how hard your workout was, with this data then used to provide your short- and long-term training load, which you can use to judge how hard to push to ensure you’re increasing your fitness without risking burnout.
The bottom line is the Apple Watch is becoming an all-in-one health and sports computer with each meaningful upgrade. And hey, it'll even tell you the time if you want it to. I'm looking forward to seeing how the product develops over the next decade of its lifespan.
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