Something curious happened last night at the Apple Event for iPhone 16. The firm put a two-year-old Apple Watch up for preorder.
It had me and even my colleagues on Macworld bamboozled. Was this the Apple Watch SE 3 but with not a single mention of it during the keynote or any press releases?
It couldn’t have been as the updated Apple store only mentioned ‘new’ for the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Hermès, plus ‘new colour’ for the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (in Black Titanium).
So why put an Apple Watch SE from 2022 up for preorder, releasing on 20 September with the iPhone 16?
The answer was buried on the Apple site and isn’t a particularly exciting one (sorry). Apple has relaunched the Watch SE with a new bands and new colours of other bands.
You can choose from a wide range of bands in rubber, textile and stainless steel – with the latter coming at extra cost.
Seven of which Apple is listing as new while the others have new colours.
- Solo Loop
- Sport Band (new colours)
- Nike Sport Band (new colours)
- Sport Loop
- Magnetic Link
- Modern Buckle
- Braided Solo Loop (new colours)
- Nike Sport Loop
- Milanese Loop
- Link Bracelet
It perhaps breathes some life into an ageing product, though one that will still interest many first-time smartwatch buyers with its £219/$249 starting price.
It also got a price cut in Europe (a year after the UK and US) so it now starts at €249 (40mm) and €279 (44mm) which is €30 less.
The wait goes on for the Apple Watch SE 3 then, which now looks unlikely for a 2024 launch.
