Apple Watch Series 3 vs Apple Watch Series 4

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

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Watch Series 3 compared with Watch Series 4

	AppleWatch Series 3	AppleWatch Series 4
Overview
Released
Released	September 2017	September 2018
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	38 mm or 42 mm	40 mm or 44 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	LTPO OLED
Peak brightness
Peak brightness	1,000 nits	1,000 nits
Always-on display
Always-on display	No	No
Display detail
Display detail	Retina OLED with Force Touch; 38mm 272 x 340 pixels and 563 sq mm; 42mm 312 x 390 pixels and 740 sq mm; wake by wrist raise or tap (Wareable)	Retina LTPO OLED with Force Touch; 40mm 324 x 394 pixels and 759 sq mm; 44mm 368 x 448 pixels and 977 sq mm; display wakes by wrist raise (PhoneArena)
Screen protection
Screen protection	Ion-X glass on aluminium; sapphire crystal on stainless steel and ceramic (PhoneArena)	–
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	Yes
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	No
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	No
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	No	No
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	No	Yes
Crash detection
Crash detection	No	No
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	Optical heart sensor, barometric altimeter, accelerometer up to 16 g-forces, gyroscope and ambient light sensor	Electrical and optical heart sensors; barometric altimeter; accelerometer up to 32 g-forces, improved gyroscope and ambient light sensor
Health features
Health features	Heart-rate monitoring including resting and recovery measurements; alerts for elevated heart rate while inactive in watchOS 4	ECG capability, high and low heart-rate alerts and irregular-rhythm notifications; ECG app was not available at hardware launch and reached the UK in March 2019
Fitness features
Fitness features	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS; elevation gain and flights climbed; pool and open-water swimming, HIIT workouts and GymKit	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS; swimming, yoga and hiking workouts, automatic workout reminders, cadence, pace alerts and rolling mile pace in watchOS 5; GymKit
Safety features
Safety features	Emergency SOS	Hard-fall detection can call emergency services after immobility and notify emergency contacts; Emergency SOS
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 18 hours
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	Yes	Yes
Works with
Works with	iPhone	iPhone
Chip
Chip	S3	S4
Storage
Storage	8 GB	16 GB (better)
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery; cellular performance depends on coverage and usage	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Charging
Charging	USB-A magnetic charging cable; Apple lists a USB power adapter for the cellular model only	Magnetic charging cable and USB power adapter
Connectivity
Connectivity	W2 wireless chip; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n at 2.4GHz; Bluetooth 4.2; cellular versions add LTE, UMTS and eSIM with a compatible carrier plan. At launch GPS required iPhone 5s and cellular iPhone 6, both with iOS 11; updated Apple support requires iPhone 6s	W3 wireless chip; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n at 2.4GHz; Bluetooth 5.0; cellular versions add LTE and UMTS with a compatible plan; GPS requires iPhone 5s, cellular iPhone 6, both with iOS 12 at launch
Storage
Storage	8 GB on GPS models; 16 GB on GPS + Cellular models	–
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	26.7 g (better)	30.1 g
Software
Software	watchOS	watchOS
Case materials
Case materials	Aluminium GPS models have a composite back; cellular models have ceramic and sapphire crystal back; steel and ceramic cases sold with cellular only; water resistance under ISO 22810:2010 for shallow-water swimming	Aluminium or stainless steel case; ceramic and sapphire crystal back; water resistance under ISO 22810:2010 for shallow-water swimming
Size
Size	Aluminium 38mm 38.6 x 33.3 x 11.4 mm, GPS 26.7 g or cellular 28.7 g; 42mm 42.5 x 36.4 x 11.4 mm, GPS 32.3 g or cellular 34.9 g. Steel uses the same dimensions at 42.4 g and 52.8 g. White ceramic 38mm 39.2 x 34.0 x 11.8 mm, 40.1 g; 42mm 42.6 x 36.5 x 11.4 mm, 46.4 g. Weights exclude bands	40mm 40 x 34 x 10.7 mm, 30.1 g aluminium or 39.8 g steel; 44mm 44 x 38 x 10.7 mm, 36.7 g aluminium or 47.9 g steel; weights exclude bands
Bands
Bands	Sport Band or Sport Loop on aluminium; Sport Band or Milanese Loop on steel; Nike Sport Band or Nike Sport Loop on Nike+; leather and additional Sport Band on Hermès; Sport Band on Edition. Nike+ reached limited availability 5 October 2017	Compatible with earlier Apple Watch bands of the corresponding size; Nike+ includes Nike bands and watch faces; Hermès includes leather bands and exclusive faces. Nike+ became available 5 October 2018
Colours
Colours	Silver, Space Grey and Gold aluminium; Silver or Space Black stainless steel; White or Grey ceramic	Silver, Space Grey and Gold aluminium; Silver, Space Black (DLC) and Gold (PVD) stainless steel; Nike+ Silver or Space Grey; Hermès polished stainless steel
In the box
In the box	Watch and band, USB-A magnetic charging cable; cellular models include USB power adapter and Hermès includes an additional Sport Band	Watch and band, magnetic charging cable and USB power adapter