Upgrading to the Apple Watch Series 8

I’ve had my Series 6 Apple Watch for quite some time (since the week it was launched, in fact) and my daily routines would be quite different with out it. 

Whether it’s tracking exercise, checking my task list on the go, controlling podcasts playing through my AirPods Pro, dictating commands to Siri or tracking my sleep, I’m definitely a heavy Apple Watch user. I avoided upgrading to the Series 7 by leaning into my rational decision-making ability. It wasn’t enough of an upgrade for the investment and my Series 6 was still a powerhouse. 

Fast forward to earlier this week, and I found myself super excited by Apple’s livestream announcement of the new watched. I managed to rein myself back in from being the Apple Watch Ultra – which looks, frankly, mahooosive – but immediately decided I need a Series 8 watch. 

My Series 6 is definitely showing its age, the battery isn’t what it was and I’m having more frequent issues with Siri understanding my dictation requests. None of these represent a major issue alone, but taken together, I had already decided this would be the year for an upgrade. 

The order

I’ve ordered a 45mm watch with cellular service in midnight with a slate blue sports band. Most of the stuff I’m looking forward to seems to be coming via the latest version of watchOS and isn’t dependent on the hardware. 

That said, for something I use all day everyday, it felt time to get a new one. And I’ve sold my existing watch for a decent amount, making the investment in the Series 8 a little easier to swallow.

I’m picking it up next Friday at the Regent Street Apple Store in London. As someone who avoids the West End whoever possible, this might seem a little masochistic. But I need to be in the area anyway, the new Elizabeth Line makes travel a breeze, and I’m picking up someone else at the same time. 

But more on that in the next post. 

I’ll share my first impressions and some unboxing pics next week. 

(Photo by Blocks Fletcher on Unsplash)