Apple tried to hide a very important Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 detail – but I noticed
By Matt Evans
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Apple tried to hide a very important Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 detail – but I noticed
Matt Evans
9 September 2025
It’s just been confirmed by Apple, too
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(Image credit: Apple)
Apple just unveiled three new Apple Watches
The Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3 are the new range
When talking about the SE 3, Apple revealed a surprising detail about all three watches
For those of you watching the Apple Event presentation playback right now and thinking about getting an Apple Watch, you might be weighing up the benefits of getting an Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs sticking with your Apple Watch Ultra 2. Alternatively, you might be considering the Apple Watch Series 11 vs the Apple Watch Series 10.
Both represent an upgrade in terms of screens and features, boasting 5G LTE connectivity, new health features and a much-requested battery life boost. However, there’s an important fact you need to know about these two watches, and it was hidden in the presentation for the least of Apple’s watch range: the Apple Watch SE 3.
The Apple Watch SE 3 is the cheapest of Apple’s new lineup, starting at $249 (likely priced at £259 / AU$399 in the UK and AU). However, it represents a serious upgrade over its predecessor, the Apple Watch SE 2. It can play media on-watch, has fast charging capabilities, packs AI features thanks to watchOS 26, and you can interact with it using hands-free gestures. It’s functionally got the smarts of an Apple Watch Series 10.
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(Image credit: Apple)
That’s because it packs the same chipset as the Apple Watch Series 10: the advanced S10 chipset. When talking about the SE 3, Apple Watch product manager Amanda Santangelo boasted the SE 3 contained Apple’s “most powerful” watch chipset.
That means the Series 11 and Ultra 3 contain the same chipset as their predecessors, the Series 10 and the Ultra 2. It wasn’t highlighted in the presentation, but it was jarring enough that I noticed the discrepancy.
Sure enough, going to the Apple Store’s product pages and examining the key specs, we can see both watches are packing last year’s chips.
It shouldn’t make any real difference to most users buying Apple Watches for the first time, or upgrading after several generations, but if you’re weighing up jumping from last year’s model to this year’s iteration, it might be helpful to know you’re getting the same processing power.
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Senior Fitness & Wearables Editor
Matt is TechRadar’s expert on all things fitness, wellness and wearable tech.
A former staffer at Men’s Health, he holds a Master’s Degree in journalism from Cardiff and has written for brands like Runner’s World, Women’s Health, Men’s Fitness, LiveScience and Fit&Well on everything fitness tech, exercise, nutrition and mental wellbeing.
Matt’s a keen runner, ex-kickboxer, not averse to the odd yoga flow, and insists everyone should stretch every morning. When he’s not training or writing about health and fitness, he can be found reading doorstop-thick fantasy books with lots of fictional maps in them.
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