The Apple Watch Series 4 is one of the best smartwatches around, and for good reasons. Although it wasn’t a radical departure from its predecessors in terms of design, it introduced a sleeker profile combined with a considerably larger display. But aside from this, its biggest stand-out feature is arguably the built-in ECG (electrocardiogram) monitor. Its been making headlines, and though its currently available only in the US, it is hands-down one of the most prospective new features that the Series 4 introduced. It is important not only for Apple, but for the wearables industry as a whole, as personal health monitoring devices prove time and time again to be literal life-savers. 

Apple Watch Series 5 design

While the first three generations of Apple Watches had virtually identical designs, the Series 4 changed things up a bit with its bigger, flatter display. Now, if you haven’t actually owned one of the previous models and then switched to the Series 4, we wouldn’t blame you for not noticing the change. Series 5 won’t be a radical design transformation, either. In fact, according to reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the Apple Watch Series 5 will be pretty much identical to its predecessor in terms of design, and instead focus on internal changes and improvements.

With every release of a new Apple Watch model, there’s a bunch of people asking, “will there be a version with a round display?” This year is no exception. The answer is, “no, the Apple Watch Series 5 won’t have a round display.” Apple firmly believes in the rectangular shape of its smartwatch and won’t deviate from it in the near future. Not to spite those who want round smartwatches, but because the user interface has been designed to work on a rectangular display. We wouldn’t rule out the possibility of this happening in the future, just not this year.

A new way to interact with the Apple Watch

image source: Inverse

Ironically, smartwatches are at their best when there’s as little direct interaction between them and the user. Apple seems to be realizing this, and with Google also reportedly working on a simplified motion-control gesture interface for Wear OS, this only makes sense. 

Sleep tracking and new health features

Apple Watch Series 5 price and release date

The Wi-Fi-only version of the Apple Watch Series 4 (40mm) is priced at $399, while the 44mm model goes for $429. The Wi-Fi + cellular versions, on the other hand, are sold for $499 and $529 for the 40mm and 44mm variants, respectively. The Apple Watch Series 5 could be priced similarly, although if many of the rumored hardware improvements come to fruition, we may be looking at slightly higher price tag for this years’ models.