Apple Watch Series 12 vs Apple Watch Series 2

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Watch Series 12 compared with Watch Series 2

	AppleWatch Series 12	AppleWatch Series 2
Overview
Released
Released	September 2026	September 2016
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	42 mm or 46 mm	38 mm or 42 mm
Panel
Panel	LTPO OLED	OLED
Peak brightness
Peak brightness	2,000 nits (better)	1,000 nits
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	No
Display detail
Display detail	Always-On Retina display with wide-angle OLEDs and LTPO3; 1Hz refresh; 374 x 446 pixels (42mm) or 416 x 496 pixels (46mm) at 326 ppi; 970 or 1,196 sq mm display area; 1 nit minimum brightness	Second-generation Retina OLED with Force Touch; 272 x 340 pixels (38mm) or 312 x 390 pixels (42mm); display sleeps between wrist raises (Wareable)
Screen protection
Screen protection	Ceramic Shield 2 (aluminium cases); sapphire front crystal (titanium and ceramic cases)	Ion-X glass on aluminium; sapphire crystal on stainless steel and ceramic
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	Yes	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	Yes	No
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	Yes	No
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	Yes	No
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	Yes	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	Yes	No
Crash detection
Crash detection	Yes	No
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	Health Sensing System with third-generation electrical heart sensor, always-on optical heart sensor, blood oxygen sensor and temperature sensor; compass; always-on altimeter; high-g accelerometer; high dynamic range gyroscope; ambient light sensor; depth gauge to 6 m; water temperature sensor	Optical heart-rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope and ambient light sensor
Health features
Health features	Readiness app; Vitals app (heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, sleep duration and HRV); Recovery HRV; high-frequency background heart rate tracking; ECG app; Blood Oxygen app; irregular rhythm notifications; high and low heart rate notifications; hypertension notifications; sleep apnoea notifications; sleep stages and sleep score; Cycle Tracking with fertile window and retrospective ovulation estimates, perimenopause and menopause support; Medications; Mindfulness; Noise	Heart-rate tracking, Activity rings and Breathe app; activity sharing and wheelchair workouts in watchOS 3
Fitness features
Fitness features	Custom workouts; Training Load; customisable heart rate zones; VO2 max; Race Route; Pacer; cadence, stride length, ground contact time, vertical oscillation and running power; automatic track detection; multisport workouts; offline maps with custom route creation; Backtrack; pool and open-water swimming with SWOLF; cycling power zones with Bluetooth accessories; GymKit	GPS and GLONASS for distance, pace and route recording without an iPhone; pool and open-water swimming workouts count laps, average lap pace and stroke type
Safety features
Safety features	Emergency SOS; international emergency calling; Fall Detection; Crash Detection; Check In; Backtrack; Last Emergency Call Availability Waypoint; torch; noise monitoring	–
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 24 hours	Up to 18 hours
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	Up to 38 hours	–
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	Yes	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone	iPhone
Chip
Chip	S11	S2
Storage
Storage	64 GB	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 24 hours of normal use; up to 38 hours in Low Power Mode; up to 10 hours of outdoor workout	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Charging
Charging	Fast charging to 80% in about 30 minutes; 15 minutes for up to 12 hours of normal use; 5 minutes for up to 10 hours of sleep tracking	Magnetic charging cable and USB power adapter; Edition includes a Magnetic Charging Dock
Connectivity
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) at 2.4GHz and 5GHz; Bluetooth 5.3; second-generation Ultra Wideband chip; NFC for Apple Pay; Precision L1 GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou); GPS + Cellular models (A3582, A3587) with 5G RedCap and LTE	Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n at 2.4GHz; Bluetooth 4.0; requires iPhone 5 or later with iOS 10 at launch
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	31.5 g	28.2 g (better)
Software
Software	watchOS	watchOS
Case materials
Case materials	100% recycled aluminium or 3D-printed 100% recycled titanium case with zirconia back, or ceramic case; water resistant to 50 m (ISO 22810:2010); IP6X dust resistant	Aluminium, stainless steel or white ceramic case; 50 m rating under ISO 22810:2010 for shallow-water swimming, not scuba diving or high-velocity water
Size
Size	42mm is 42 x 37 x 9.7 mm (ceramic 43 x 37 x 9.85 mm); 46mm is 46 x 40 x 9.7 mm (ceramic 47 x 41 x 9.85 mm); lightest is the 42mm aluminium GPS + Cellular at 31.5 g, heaviest the 46mm Night Blue ceramic at 52.9 g	Aluminium 38mm 38.6 x 33.3 x 11.4 mm, 28.2 g and 42mm 42.5 x 36.4 x 11.4 mm, 34.2 g; steel uses the same dimensions at 41.9 g and 52.4 g; ceramic 38mm 39.2 x 34.0 x 11.8 mm, 39.6 g and 42mm 42.6 x 36.5 x 11.4 mm, 45.6 g; weights exclude bands
Bands
Bands	Fits 130–200 mm wrists (42mm) or 140–245 mm wrists (46mm)	Sport or Woven Nylon for aluminium; Sport, steel or leather for stainless steel; Nike Sport Band for Nike+; Hermès leather plus an additional Sport Band; Sport Band for Edition. Hermès launched 23 September 2016, Nike+ was scheduled for late October
Colours
Colours	Aluminium in Dark Bronze, Light Gold, Black and Space Grey; titanium in Radiant Gold and Natural; ceramic in Pearl White and Night Blue	Gold, Rose Gold, Silver or Space Grey aluminium; Silver or Space Black stainless steel; White ceramic
In the box
In the box	Apple Watch Series 12, strap, Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable (1 m)	Watch and band, magnetic charging cable and USB power adapter; Edition adds Magnetic Charging Dock; Hermès adds Sport Band