Apple announces Apple Watch SE, affordable successor to the Series 3

New features in a familiar design

Apple has announced the Apple Watch SE, a successor to the three-year-old Apple Watch Series 3. The device starts at $279.

The model retains many of the Series 3’s signature features, including fall detection, an always-on altimeter, a swimproof chassis, Family Setup, face sharing and, other signature features that are packed into the new Apple Watch Series 6.

The watch uses the S5 chip, which Apple says will allow for up to two times better performance than we saw from the Series 3.

Similarly to its namesake iPhone SE, the Watch SE is Apple’s first dedicated affordable Apple Watch. It’s meant to compete with the likes of Fitbit, and other budget smartwatch models. In the past, the Apple alternatives to products like the Versa Lite have been older Apple Watch models with discounted prices.

The SE looks pretty similar to the Series 4, which Apple discontinued with the launch of the Series 5 last year. There are Bluetooth-only and cellular options.

The SE will run watchOS 7, which Apple unveiled at WWDC.