The Apple Watch SE Could Get Bigger This Year

Last year marked the first time since 2021 that Apple released only one entry in its smartwatch family: the Apple Watch Series 10. However, if the reports we’ve heard are accurate, the company could make up for that this year with its second trifecta of Apple Watches, matching the 2022 release of the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra.

It’s a given that we’ll see an Apple Watch Series 11 this fall, but most reports indicate that Apple plans to release an “Apple Watch Ultra 3” — a significant upgrade that will include 5G and satellite connectivity — plus a new Apple Watch SE.

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The reports on what to expect from Apple’s most affordable smartwatch have been mixed. Last summer, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed that Apple was considering Write: The Apple Watch SE Could Get Bigger This Year — likely plastic — to reduce costs.

Such a move would also help set the Apple Watch SE apart from the sleeker aluminum Series models — something the Apple Watch SE hasn’t done yet. The first Apple Watch SE was launched in 2020 and was visually indistinguishable from the Apple Watch Series 6 that launched alongside it. The more expensive model came in additional (PRODUCT)RED and blue colors that the SE version lacked, but you’d have a hard time telling the traditional silver, gold, and space gray Series 6 apart from the 2020 SE.

The second-generation Apple Watch SE looked different from the rest of the pack when it arrived in 2022 only because Apple didn’t change the design. The Apple Watch Series 7 grew in size, while the Apple Watch SE retained the design of the Series 6. However, the two wearables looked very similar despite the size differences, and only a trained eye could tell which was which without a closer examination.

However, earlier this year, Gurman said the plastic Apple Watch SE may not be in the cards. Apple’s design team reportedly didn’t like the look of it, and since it didn’t really reduce costs there wasn’t any advantage to making the Apple Watch SE less attractive.

Instead, Apple may simply revert to an older design, just like it did with the 2022 Apple Watch SE. Now that the Apple Watch Series 10 has an even larger screen, it’s arguably cleared the way for the Apple Watch SE to adopt the design of the Series 7–9 era.

A new report from display analyst Ross Young suggests this is what Apple has in mind. Young lives and breathes display technologies, and he’s more often right than wrong when it comes to sharing information about the screens that Apple’s suppliers have in production.

In a subscribers-only post on X noticed by 9to5Mac, Young notes that two new Apple Watch SE displays have just entered production, measuring approximately 1.6” and 1.8” each.

While Apple doesn’t publish the diagonal sizes of its Apple Watch displays, it does provide the pixel width and height for most models. For example, the 46mm Apple Watch Series 10 specs reveal a 416 x 496-pixel display with a surface area of 1,220 square millimeters, while the 45mm Apple Watch Series 7 specs list a 396 x 484-pixel display at 1,143 square millimeters.

Those numbers give us enough to calculate the rest. For comparison, here are the screen sizes of the past few generations of Apple Watch models:

As an aside, what’s interesting about these numbers is they show how much Apple has reduced the bezels over the years. The 40mm Apple Watch Series 4 had the same size of screen as the 42mm Series 3. The same is true for the 42mm Apple Watch Series 10 compared to the 44mm Series 6.

Depending on which side of “approximately” Young’s measurements fall, the Apple Watch SE could easily cross into Series 7–9 territory, with 41mm and 45mm models replacing the current 44/40mm sizes. The screens may end up slightly smaller to keep costs down; the expanded screen on the Series 7 was reportedly “a unique challenge” for Apple engineers, which undoubtedly translates to a more expensive one as well. Shaving even a few tenths of a millimeter off the edges and increasing the bezels is likely a more economical approach.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]