Who should buy the Powerbeats Pro 2? The answer will surprise you.

Apple’s Superstar lineup for marketing the Powerbeats Pro 2:

Shohei Ohtani.

Lionel Messi.

Lebron James.

Your mom.

Wait…what??

Yes, that’s right. Your mom is a Superstar, and an ideal candidate for the Powerbeats Pro 2, at least if she’s anything like mine.

My mom was in the market for some durable earbuds back in October 2021. Besides being wireless, she only had one criterion: the earbuds had to have a loop that goes around her ears and keeps it secure. She wears a headscarf, and headscarves don’t go well with any AirPods that she has tried since they simply are not secure enough. As a bus driver, the last thing she wants to do is try to find her ear bud in the driver’s footwell.

The Powerbeats Pro were the best choice, and she has been using the same pair every day since November 2021. They’re still going strong, and once they go bad, I will probably get her the Powerbeats Pro 2 that I am testing out. I can’t give them to her now because her original ones still work, and she wouldn’t want me to get her new headphones for no reason. I might even get a lecture about wasting money if I did.

It’s an Asian thing.

Just don’t tell her about my Apple Watch obsession.

She’s in her 60s, yet these are perfect for her in many ways besides the secure fit. She is a marathon talker on the phone, and she will be happy with the much better battery life. She manages battery life by alternating ear pieces, and she keeps her other ear free for listening to her surroundings.

I don’t even want to try to explain to her how the force touch tips on AirPods work, let alone the swipe gestures, but the actual buttons on the beats make it simple and easy to understand. A simple volume rocker and a “beats” button for play and pause. Real, clickable buttons, perfect for the elderly and non tech-savvy. She is already used to this layout, so she will feel right at home.

The smaller case will make more room for her purse which is already full (what purse isn’t full anyway?), but it won’t be too small for her to lose it either. The balance is just right.

The other cool aspect about the Pro 2 is heart rate monitoring. My mom refuses to wear an Apple Watch because that’s just one more thing to learn and charge, but she wears her beats all the time. When she is not actively listening to lectures or talking on the phone, her iPhone would be logging her heart rate with the Pro 2. It only logs your heart rate when you are actively in the Health App with both earbuds in place, but it would be nice for her to see at least one health metric. The minute you leave the Health app, the heart rate monitor stops, probably to preserve battery life.

My plan is to get her interested in heart rate monitoring, and then eventually upsell her into an Apple Watch for all the other health benefits.

Lastly, if you’re afraid someone might steal her earbuds, buy the Quick Sand color. That hue of light grayish-brown is a similar color to hearing aids, and looks the part when placed in your ear. I instantly felt older when I looked in the mirror instead of younger and hip.

PSA: Record your unboxings so you can prove your innocence.

I bought an Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Best Buy Geek Squad Refurbished, and I had a “unique” unboxing experience. It was advertised as “Open Box Excellent,” and when I opened the outer packaging, I got excited because the inner box that holds the Apple Watch still had the white plastic seals on it, signifying a brand new, unopened watch.

I tore the tabs off, and inside the box was the charger…and no watch.

I was not disappointed as much as I should have been, but I was actually impressed. How did they seal this package back up and make it look like a brand new seal? I inspected the pull tabs on the seal and on the box, and nothing looked like it was put back together or jimmy-rigged in some way.

There was still the watch band to unbox, but this time I recorded it. The box felt suspiciously light, but the Alpine Loop is light too, so it was anybody’s guess if there was a band inside. When I pulled the sealed tab, there was an empty cardboard shell that holds the Alpine Loop.

Ouch.

The thieves have upped their game, but thankfully Best Buy is siding with the customer (me) and will be refunding me without even needing my video proving my innocence.

Not sure if other retailers/sellers will make it this easy to get a refund, but do yourself a favor and record your unboxings of any high-demand product, especially if it’s used.

The influence for the Vision Pro’s design.

It’s hard not to see the uncanny resemblance between these two products.

Take the Apple Watch, stretch it out, add a curve to it, and there you have it:

The Vision Pro.

Storing things inside Your AirPods Pro 2 case.

I ended up getting a mini workout done when I was not really expecting to at my son’s wrestling practice. Normally I just use the time to do some writing, but now I have to split the time between writing and working out due to less free time at home with the new baby.

The Milanese band is my band of choice for jogging, but I forgot to swap it out and was wearing my link bracelet. I wear the link bracelet a bit loose since it’s uncomfortable when tight, but I needed to tighten it up for the workout.

I ended up taking out one link, and storing it in my AirPods Pro 2 case. It fits pretty good inside there, and even attaches magnetically making it harder for the link to fall out. I do use the smaller sized bracelet labelled 38mm (also the same as 40mm, 41mm, and the new 42mm), but I’m confident there is enough space for the larger links to also fit.

I’m not a fan of working out with the link bracelet, but it’s doable, especially if you have storage for your extra links.

You can store one link in each slot.

The links have a strong enough magnetic connection to not fall out when turned upside down. If you drop the case though, they will pop out and fly away.

JD Vance gets told to take off his Apple Watch.

An open letter from Watches of Espionage, letting JD Vance know of the obvious security risks for a Vice President to be wearing a smartwatch.

Not a politically charged piece, just one that makes sense.

Using a Series 3 Ceramic Edition Apple Watch is like driving a weekend car.

I use my White Ceramic Series 3 occasionally, and it is a joy to look at that thing. Sure it’s an old Apple Watch, but it has that pearlescent white finish that just contrasts well with the black screen and colorful watch faces.

It is the most “Apple-like” color.

Playful…

Serious.

Band compatibility is also great with a white watch. Most color combos would work in my opinion, except for the Natural and Gold Stainless Steel, and Natural Titanium bands. Black Steel and Black Titanium would look amazing.

There’s a lot of work involved though in getting this watch up to speed even for just the weekend. I mentioned earlier that it takes about 9 minutes to boot and have the watch connect to my device, but in reality, it takes about 20-30 minutes for the watch to sync all the messages, weather information, email, etc., to my watch from the past week of living.

I was quite surprised last Saturday when I wore it, and my Messages counter on the watch went from “No new messages,” to 40 new messages, down to 22, and then eventually to “No new messages.”

It really is a device you need to be patient with unless you use it every day.

It’s like an old, weekend car you want to enjoy for a few days, but then you’re glad it’s over by Sunday afternoon because the car is nice and fun, but also a bit cumbersome, makes a few rattles, is missing many creature comforts, needs to be warmed up before you throw it around, and takes premium gas.

Apple found a good balance with this watch by stopping the updates at watchOS 8. I know people like to complain that new updates have slowed down their Apple devices and that’s probably true for the Series 3 on watchOS 8, but you can never please anyone, and you have to find that perfect balance where you can update a device with more features, while keeping it as zippy as possible.

If I wear the Series 3 for weeks on end (which I did earlier), then it doesn’t have to do a massive sync of all the data, and it runs just fine. Just don’t let it run out of battery for the love of God.

Once again, it is absolutely illogical to buy a Ceramic Edition Series 3 for productivity reasons. You’re buying this watch for nostalgia and aesthetics, and you’re trying to experience luxury at a discount. You can do the same with the Stainless Steel models, which were beautiful.

I’ll use Adam Savage’s analogy (also fitting for my line of work), and say that the Series 3 Ceramic and Stainless Steel models are like a gateway drug into experiencing Apple’s premium watches at a steep discount.

Apple Watch Meridian Face - Unique colors you didn’t know about.

I’ve written two earlier pieces about the unique colors for the California and Chronograph Pro watch faces, but what really surprised me was the Meridian watch face.

Meridian is another analog watch face like California and Chronograph Pro and is the simplest of the bunch. It just has 4 complications in the middle of the watch in a diamond-shaped pattern.

The dial can be either black or white contrasted with white or black hour markers. The color that you choose only changes the color of the complications.

The Meridian watch face keeps a low profile with color strictly restricted to the complications. (Standard colors shown.)

There are 139 custom colors to choose from, but only four of those give you a unique look that also change the color of the hour and seconds markers. Combine that with either a white or black face, and you have 8 unique watch faces.

And they look amazing.

Those four colors are Clover, Starlight, Red, and Abyss Blue, and they’re located under the Fall 2021 collection.

Whether you use the white or black face, you get an interesting look that you probably didn’t know existed among the other 135 custom colors.

Just for scale, take a look at all the custom colors below, with the four unique colors highlighted:

4 out 139 have the special color feature.

Not only are the hour markers color-coded, but so are the second markers. In an alternate world, these colors would be: Sour Cream and Onion, Salted Caramel, Peppermint Red, and Gorgonzola.

Now, let’s go dark:

The darker versions really pop more due to the contrast.

Once again, among all the standard and custom colors, only these four give you that extra splash of color.

My theory for why these four colors are special? In Fall 2021, the Series 7 aluminum models came in four special colors: Green, Starlight, (PRODUCT) RED, and Blue.

They also came in the standard Space Gray which was called Midnight, but no one cares.

There are many shades of red to choose from, but the red from Fall 2021 definitely resembles (PRODUCT) RED. I think Apple wanted matching watch face colors with the debut of these new colors and the newly remodeled edge-to-edge screen on the Series 7.

Whatever the reason, I hope you enjoy these new colors on your Meridian watch face.

How to add the Apple logo to your Apple watch face.

Update 2/10/25 @ 8:14pm: added additional image for instructional clarity.

Just like all watch brands that showcase their logo right below the 12 o’clock marker, you can brand your Apple Watch with a Monogram on several watch faces.

Per Apple’s statement:

Choose up to five characters to appear in the Monogram complication on the Typograph, Infograph, Meridian, California, and Color watch faces.

You could add any five characters, but I find it best suited to put the Apple logo in the Monogram complication.

Also, Apple’s statement is wrong. You can also apply the Monogram to the Contour and Solar Analog watch faces (image below).

Go to your Watch App under Clock > Monogram and simply copy and paste this Apple logo: 

Then go to one of the compatible watch faces, and for the “Sub-dial Top” complication, go to Personalization and add the Monogram.

You can have your Apple Watch faces looking like this:

The  logo gives your watch face some class.

WatchOS 11 gets more well deserved criticism.

First it was Zac from 9to5Mac, and now John from Daring Fireball sharing my pain with their Apple Watch frustrations.

Here’s John’s Apple Watch Report Card:

APPLE WATCH: C (LAST YEAR: B)

Series 10 watches feature a new display that supports once-per-second updates while in energy-saving always-on mode. So the seconds hand on an analog face can “tick” once per second even when the display isn’t fully on. But Apple only enabled this ticking seconds indicator on two watch faces, both new to WatchOS 11: Flux and Reflections. Setting aside the fact that I personally don’t like either of those faces (Flux in particular seems deliberately obtuse), this is ridiculous. WatchOS 11 offers, by my quick count, at least 33 different watch faces that offer a non-digital seconds hand or indicator. And only 2 of them support the new 1Hz refresh rate? That’s bullshit. And it wasn’t just a launch thing, because here we are in February, with WatchOS 11.3, and zero additional watch faces have been updated to support it. This is not how a serious watchmaker treats its watches. I will admit to caring far more about always-on seconds hands than most people, but this isn’t how a serious watchmaker deals with technical breakthroughs like this new display with a 1Hz refresh rate. Not just most, but every single watch face should have been updated to support ticking seconds. Apple Watch is turning more into a fitness tracker that happens to show the time, and away from serving as a proper watch.

Also: no Ultra 3 this year. The year-old Ultra 2 did gain a very nice black titanium color option, but that’s it. Kind of weird for a watch that starts at $800 — and that seems quite popular — to skip a year of silicon improvements.

I really hope watchOS 12 fixes all previous watch faces and complications that are compatible with the 1Hz refresh rate, if not sooner.

As for the Ultra 2, marketing wise they get an A for selling the same watch at the same price with a worse color that everyone seems to love even though it rubs off worse than Jet Black.

Is the Series 3 Apple Watch still usable in 2025?

I’ve been using the Series 3 Apple Watch for about three weeks now. Actually, I’ve been using three different Series 3 watches, and it’s quite interesting how even after 7 generations, the Series 3 still holds up.

But it definitely is not perfect.

The Series 3 came out back in September 2017 and is still supported by Apple when it comes to hardware repairs. Software wise, the last update it supported was watchOS 8.8.1. 

The best way to talk about the Series 3 is to go all out and compare it with the Series 10 to give you a fair comparison between old and new technology.

Initial boot up

This is probably the one thing that really lets you know this is a 7 year old watch. 

I did a boot test to see what was the difference in speed, but I discovered a better test, which was to see how quickly it can ping my iPhone after bootup. This way it tests how quickly the watch connects to my iPhone, which is its lifesource.

From initial boot to pinging my Apple Watch, the Series 10 was able to do it in 1 minute. 

The Series 3 took 8 minutes and 50 seconds.

I know this is not a good start, but I promise it gets better.

Size comparison

I obtained 3 different models, all at the larger 42mm size. This is the size to get, since the screen is still the original square shape that was not edge to edge. The 38mm is just too small for visibility. The funny thing is, the larger Series 3 body at 42mm is the same size as the smaller Series 10 at 42mm. What was once the bigger Apple Watch is now the size of the smaller watch.

Go big or go home.

Series 3 42mm dimensions: 42mm by 36.4mm

Series 10 42mm dimensions: 42mm by 36mm

When you look at Watch faces that are mainly black and hide the bezels, the difference between these 42mm models isn’t really that big, making the Series 3 still very legible and modern. The only time you notice the smaller screen is when you have a watch face that shows the whole screen, such as Timelapse or Photos. The Series 3 does not have any other full screen watch faces, rightfully so.

Band compatibility

Even though both watches are 42mm, they don’t support the same watch bands. A new 42mm band is smaller than the old 42mm band. It sounds confusing since the number is the same, but this is the one time the math doesn’t add up. There is a good infographic from an eBay store that shows which bands are compatible, or you can read my nitty gritty about band compatibility.

Even though the Series 3 and Series 10 have the same length and width, the Series 3 is 1.7mm thicker than the Series 10. That thickness might change what hole you use to fasten your band, and can even affect compatibility with the Solo and Braided Solo Loop that come in fixed sizes. I haven’t tested the Solo and Braided Solo Loops on my Series 3, but here is what Apple says when you click on compatibility details:

The Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop bands are only compatible with Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 4 or later, and Apple Watch Ultra or later.

Hardware differences

The basic recipe is still here between the Series 3 and Series 10. The Series 3 has the same Side Button and Digital Crown, but you don’t have any haptics when you rotate the Digital Crown. The Side Button is protruding instead of being flush like the Series 10. As a matter of fact, the Series 3 was the last watch to have the protruding Side Button.

The square shape of the Series 3 is more obvious and Apple has addressed the squareness by chipping away at the corners over the years, making it rounder than it has ever been on the Series 10. I can see why Apple initially got a lot of criticism for releasing a square shaped watch when all the watch faces were round. 

Apple has double-downed on roundness for each generation of the Apple Watch.

Even though the shape has changed over the last 7 years, there is no denying that it is still an Apple Watch at first glance.

Within the Series 3 itself, there are some differences when it comes to hardware, mainly the screen and how it rests on the body. The Series 3 was the second time Apple released a Ceramic Edition model, coming in both White and Gray Ceramic. It is the only Apple Watch that came in Gray Ceramic, which tells me it probably didn’t sell well and why I was able to get one on eBay for $105.

The Ceramic models have a distinct lip or “shelf” between the display and the body, resulting in a break in the fluid feeling when you slide your finger off the screen and onto the body. This was a limitation of the Ceramic manufacturing process because even the entry-level aluminum and mid-tier stainless steel models had the seamless feel and look between screen and body. As beautiful as the Ceramic Edition is, it’s a shame they couldn’t make it as seamless considering the original $1,299 price tag.

Notice the bigger “shelf” on the Ceramic models vs the Rose Gold Aluminum.

Battery

The main issue with the Series 3 would probably be battery life since after 7 years, the battery might be shot. I acquired 3 watches, and their respective battery health was 95%, 99%, and 77%. Ironically the one with 77% looked like it was replaced since it had some residual glue on the Gray Ceramic bezel, while the other two show no signs of battery replacement. I know my White Ceramic model does have an original battery, but I’ll explain how later.

Either way, the battery life is great. Since the Series 3 does not have an Always-On Display, it still manages to get its 18 hour battery life, and even more. Even my Gray Ceramic one that has 77% Battery Health went from 94% to 17% in 23 hours, with a 4-hour period where I didn’t wear the watch. The watch then went to 10% within the next 10 minutes reflecting the bad battery health. I wouldn’t trust the battery life under 20% for a battery this old, but you can still get 18 hours out of it.

There is no low power mode, so you don’t get the benefit of increasing your battery life up to 36 hours.

Performance

Although the watch does lag at times, it is more than bearable because at the end of the day, it is a watch, not your main computing device. You’re not going to edit video or compile code on these. When responding to messages, checking the weather, or setting alarms, everything is slower than a Series 9 or Series 10, but it gets the job done in reasonable time. After a few hours, you even forget about how “slow” it is since you get used to it.

In some ways, the software is actually smoother, which is one of the reasons why I got this watch. When you swipe to switch watch faces, you don’t have to wait for the time to adjust like you do on the latest Apple watches. The time is always what it is instead of the hour and minute hands having to swoop into place. Your complications are always up to date, which also makes the experience more Apple-like. This is due to the simpler interface of watchOS 8 vs the huge overhaul watchOS went through starting with watchOS 10. The older, more simpler software keeps the 7 year old Series 3 nimble enough. With watchOS 10, swiping the watch faces became more stuttery and buggy, and dare I say, more Android-like.

Most 3rd party apps that I use are simple apps that don’t require much processing power. They run in the background as complications. If you use any heavy apps that require a lot of processing power, it probably won’t run well (if at all) on the Series 3.

Still Feature Rich

It might not have all the bells and whistles of the Series 10, but you still get the following benefits:

• High and low heart rate notifications

• Irregular rhythm notifications

• Low cardio fitness notifications

• Sleep tracking

• Cycle Tracking

• Noise Monitoring

• Ping your iPhone

• Ping your watch with your iPhone

• Water resistance (tested and still intact after 7 years(!), but YMMV)

• LTE 

Features that are absent:

• HomeKit compatibility (the new Matter Standard probably broke this.)

• Fall detection

• Always On Display

• Can’t assign watch faces to focus modes

• Fast charging

• Digital Crown haptics

• Emergency SOS

• Vitals App

Quirks

There are ways around some of the limitations of the Series 3. For the always-on display, you can still rotate the digital crown to slowly wake up the display to glance at the time (also available on current watches). You also don’t have to worry about whether your display is “always on” vs actually on, because it is either ON or OFF. No confusion there.

You also get the original modular watch face, which was updated in future revision of watchOS. The original modular watch face was unique in letting you change the color of the digital clock with your color choice, whereas the new modular only gives you black and white options for time, depending on the color you choose.

The original Modular watch face with a color-changing digital clock.

Your watch faces are limited compared to the Series 10 which has many more full screen options, but you do get the following discontinued watch faces on the Series 3:

1. Explorer

2. Siri

3. Numerals

4. Chronograph

Of these 4 options, the Explorer watch face is my favorite, giving you red watch hands as an option. It’s also Jony Ive’s favorite watch face.

Source: Hodinkee

An important quirk of the Series 3? It lets you know immediately when your iPhone is out of range with a crossed-out, red iPhone on your screen, so you don’t ever get too far from your iPhone.

Why did I buy 3 of them?

I didn’t mean to buy three of these, it just happened.

I bought a cheap Rose Gold option as a testing device that had 95% battery health, but once I realized how useful the Series 3 is, I decided to go premium and get both Ceramic editions on eBay.

The Ceramic does add a lot of class, and I was fortunate to get the exclusive ceramic Sport Bands bundled with the watch that included a ceramic pin instead of a stainless steel pin.

I could have skipped on the Gray Ceramic as the White Ceramic is definitely more beautiful, but at the cheap price that I got it for, it’s worth holding onto. It really shines in the light versus dark environments.

These watches are old, and you can find great deals on them. The Rose Gold 42mm was $65 with 95% battery health. The Gray Ceramic was $105 with 77% battery health, but if I send it to Apple to get it replaced for $79, I’m looking at around $200 all-in for a fully healthy watch that once retailed for $1349.

Lastly, I found a unicorn Series 3, 42mm White Ceramic that was barely used by the original owner, and it included the box with all the accessories for around $350. It had 99% battery health, and the band that was “used” was barely used.

Left to right: Rose Gold, White Ceramic, Gray Ceramic.

Who should buy the Series 3?

If you just need a reliable Apple Watch and want the best bang for your buck, don’t buy the Series 3. You can easily get a much better experience and an always-on display for around the same price with a Series 5, especially if you are not concerned about buying a flawless watch. Just make sure to check the battery health before purchasing.

If you’re someone who appreciates Apple and are an Apple enthusiast, it would be worth buying a nice Series 3 watch since you get the best version of the original design. The original Apple Watch (known in the tech circle as the Series 0), Series 2, and Series 3 shared the same industrial design before it was changed for the Series 4.

Owning a Series 3 will be owning a piece of Apple history that is still usable today. You can get premium models for a great price on eBay, and since Apple still supports the Series 3, you can easily get screens and batteries replaced.

Jet Black Apple Watch durability after hitting the floor…hard.

Welp…it happened.

I have been babying my Jet Black Apple Watch after my initial troubles that I had with it.

This time it was my fault.

It was just sitting there, with its beautiful shiny piano black contrasting with the brushed sheen of the Space Black link bracelet. I grabbed it to put it on, and down it fell on the tiled floor.

It all happened so fast.

No bouncing around either, just a hard thud due to the weight of the link bracelet pulling it down.

I grabbed it and didn’t see any obvious signs of damage on the front body or the screen, but there is a blemish at the point of impact near the rear of the bottom right corner.

It’s actually not that noticeable even when directly looking at it. I just shined a light to point it out.

If you zoom in this much, everything looks worse than it is.

The body of the watch did not dent, and if I feel and rub my fingers on the point of impact, I can’t feel any roughness. The Digital Crown also feels the same and presses and spins just fine.

Aluminum is more prone to bending than Stainless Steel and Titanium, but since the watch is rounded off, it is less likely to dent since it “slips” on impact. I remember dropping my iPhone 12 mini back when I had it, and the dent was visible and feelable since it was a squared off device.

This impact might be for the best because now, I don’t have to baby it anymore. It’s like that vintage car you want that has 5 miles on it, and you don’t want to mess it up by driving it. This scratch just added 100,000 miles to my watch, so now I can daily it worry free.

I’m just glad it’s not on the front of the watch where it would be staring at me all the time.

Apple’s Watch faces are broken.

Zac Hall from 9to5Mac rants about the Always-On Display with ticking seconds hand on the Series 10:

It’s the only model that displays seconds on the watch face in always-on mode. There’s just one catch: only three watch faces support this hardware feature. Now, that number has grown — to a whopping four.

Zac’s a lot more kind that I am about this lack of consistency in hardware support, but I’m glad someone else is talking about this. I hope he’s wrong (so does he) about Apple’s strategy moving forward with the watch face support:

The good news is that Apple’s new Unity Rhythm face in watchOS 11.3 supports always-on seconds, just like Reflections.

The bad news? This sums up Apple’s watch face game plan: introduce a few new watch faces annually that feature always-on seconds, while simultaneously removing some less popular watch faces that lack this feature.

Ideally, this is incorrect, and watchOS 12 updates all watch faces to support always-on seconds. A standard analog watch face with numerals, like Utility or California, should support always-on seconds — especially if Apple isn’t going to update each face. Every watch face should support the hardware’s capabilities though.

To complicate things further (pun intended), there are a lot of Time based complications that also would benefit from the Always-On Display with ticking seconds hand, but I can live without those for now.

Apple Watch Chronograph Pro Face - Unique colors you didn’t know about

Update 2/6/25 @ 5:59PM - this article also applies to the Count Up Watch Face.

Since the beginning of Apple Watch, Apple releases new colors for Apple Watch face customization during different seasons.

Out of the 130+ custom colors to choose from, there are only 4 colors that standout to give you a unique and more professional watch face experience.

Let’s look at the Chronograph Pro watch face.

By default, this watch face gives you 19 dark watch faces that show a single color. The dark watch faces are neat, but they are very one-dimensional with a single color dominating the complications, the main dial, and the sub-dial hands.

Following the 19 dark watch faces, you are greeted with 12 professional looking multi-color watch faces.

There are 140 custom color watch faces you can add, but only 4 of them have that professional multi-color look.

Take a look for yourself:

It’s not as obvious as the California Watch face, but you can see it.

These four bonus colors are: Clover, Starlight, Red, and Abyss Blue.

You can find them under the Fall 2021 season. 

English Lavender and Dark Cherry are also in the Fall 2021 Season, but they don’t get the special treatment.

Not sure if this was meant to be, but I’m all for the multi-color effect. You get a more professional looking watch face with more contrast similar to the 12 watch faces Apple gives you by default. All the corner widgets are gray, and you get orange sub-dial hands on white or black sub-dials. That orange sub-dial hand color? Very close if not the same as the iPhone Mute Switch.

These four colors are distinct from their closest resembling professional watch faces and have their own unique look:

Evergreen (default) vs Clover.

Watermelon (default) vs Red.

Navy Blue (default) vs Abyss Blue.

Among all these default colors, the custom Starlight color has its own unique look. Starlight and Light Titanium are the only two faces that have white sub-dials with black hands.

My theory for why these four colors are special? In Fall 2021, the Series 7 aluminum models came in four special colors: Green, Starlight, (PRODUCT) RED, and Blue.

They also came in the standard Space Gray which was called Midnight, but no one cares.

There are many shades of red to choose from, but the red from Fall 2021 definitely resembles (PRODUCT) RED. I think Apple wanted matching watch face colors with the debut of these new colors and the newly remodeled edge-to-edge screen on the Series 7.

If you really enjoy the 12 default multi-color watch faces Apple gives you, now you have 4 more to enjoy. If Craig Federighi thinks this watch face is cool, it’s cool.

Apple Watch California Face - Unique colors you didn’t know about

Update 2/4/25 @ 6:47PM - this article also applies to the Typograph Watch Face.

Since the beginning of Apple Watch, Apple releases new colors for Apple Watch face customization during different seasons.

Out of the 130+ custom colors to choose from, there are only 4 colors that standout to give you a unique and more professional watch face experience.

Let’s look at the California watch face.

This watch face gives you 21 black watch faces…

followed by 14 full-screen color watch faces.

If you add every custom color as an option, you get over 130 extra black watch faces to choose from, but only 4 of them give you a full-screen color effect. 

Take a look for yourself:

How long did it take me to screenshot all these faces? Follow the time…

These four colors are: Clover, Starlight, Red, and Abyss Blue.

These colors are located under the Fall 2021 season. 

English Lavender and Dark Cherry are also in the Fall 2021 Season, but they don’t get the special treatment.

Not sure if this was meant to be, but I’m all for the full screen effect. These four colors seem to be coded in watchOS like the 14 default full-screen colors even though they’re custom colors.

These four colors are distinct from their closest resembling default watch faces and have their own unique look:

Evergreen (default) vs Clover.

Watermelon (default) vs Red.

Navy Blue (default) vs Abyss Blue.

Among all these default colors, the custom Starlight color falls somewhere in between Gold and Light Titanium.

The only reason why I think these 4 colors are special is because besides Midnight (which is just fancy for Space Gray, a default color since the Apple Watch’s inception), the Series 7 aluminum models came in Green, Starlight, (PRODUCT) RED, and Blue. There are many shades of red to choose from, but the red from Fall 2021 resembles (PRODUCT) RED. I think Apple wanted matching watch face colors with the debut of these new colors and the newly remodeled edge-to-edge screen on the Series 7.

Most of the 130+ optional colors are tiny hexadecimal variations from the standard colors, but these 4 colors legitimately give you a fresh look at the California watch face.

An Apple Watch, a MacBook, and an iPhone all for less than $300?

Saw Luke Miani’s recent video, and it is a compelling ecosystem for a young adult. I’m talking about a late tween or early teenager, especially if they’re homeschooled and their current laptop is a Chromebook that makes the original MacBook Air screen look like a Retina display.

Yes, it’s that bad.

The fact that a 5 year old watch, a 10 year old laptop, and an almost 3 year old phone can still communicate with each other just seems incredible. It shouldn’t really surprise me since I’ve been using an 11 year old laptop that communicates with the newest iPhone and Apple Watch for logging in and Apple Pay.

How Apple will probably implement their blood pressure technology.

Whenever I go to my annual Doctor’s visit, it's nice to notice certain technological advancements when getting that initial screening by the nurse. 

Your height is measured by what I would call an extremely large digital caliper connected to the weighing scale, where they lay the top part of the “caliper” on your head, and instantly know your height. 

Your weight is digitally and effortlessly measured. I do miss the old scales where you had to move the weights and find that point where the balance finally starts to budge. It was more dramatic since you could see the nurse constantly sliding the weight past the point where you would hope the scale would balance out, only to realize you put on a few more pounds.

Your pulse is checked with an oversized digital clothespin that they put on your finger instead of the nurse clutching your wrist. 

Your temperature is checked execution style as they shoot your forehead with infrared rays instead of sticking a thermometer up your…in your mouth.  

Finally your blood pressure (BP) is checked…the old-fashioned way. You still have to remove your bulky jacket and strap that overly “velcrofied” arm cuff on while the nurse uses her stethoscope to check your blood pressure.

It’s the one vital information of your health that still requires old methods to get right. As a matter of fact, one could argue that your blood pressure reading is the most important reading of that visit because high blood pressure, or hypertension, leads to worse outcomes for every other health condition.

It’s the most important, yet it is also the most tedious because your blood pressure constantly changes throughout the day. If you buy any sort of portable blood pressure machine, you will notice a whole list of prerequisites before you take your blood pressure. Here is what the CDC says you should do before taking your blood pressure:

Don't eat or drink anything 30 minutes before you take your blood pressure.

Empty your bladder before your reading.

Sit in a comfortable chair with your back supported for at least 5 minutes before your reading.

Put both feet flat on the ground and keep your legs uncrossed.

Rest your arm with the cuff on a table at chest height.

Make sure the blood pressure cuff is snug but not too tight. The cuff should be against your bare skin, not over clothing.

Do not talk while your blood pressure is being measured.

There are other factors as well, such as “white-coat syndrome,” where a patient is nervous about getting their blood pressure taken, and it becomes falsely elevated.

This is all assuming you’re using an arm cuff, which is the most accurate. Wrist cuffs are more convenient but less accurate, and now you have to factor that into the equation.

There have been advances in how blood pressure is measured leading to more convenient choices in the future, such as photoplethysmography (PPG). This is where your device can be used to shine infrared lights into your skin to detect blood volume changes. It is a graphical representation similar to an ECG, where people who know a heck of a lot more than me can determine what is wrong with a person's heart. 

This PPG technology can be used on your finger, your wrist, your foot, and even your ears. (Apple Ring and Apple Toe Ring anyone?)

It’s really inexpensive compared to an ECG, and your Apple Watch uses PPG all the time to get information about your pulse, blood oxygen levels, and your cardio health. If someone had a sensor on their wrist and on their finger for example, you can then calculate the pulse travel time (PTT) between the wrist and their finger, and use that time measurement to estimate blood pressure.

According to a study by Nature, that is still less accurate than using an ECG along with one PPG datapoint, such as your wrist or finger. This is actually better for the end user because you only need to have one device, along with an ECG which your Apple Watch already measures.

So in theory, your Apple Watch measures an ECG which has its own waveform, which can be correlated with a PPG waveform that measures changes in blood volume. You end up with 2 waveforms that can then be studied and analyzed along with machine-learning and anonymous, historical user data to determine blood pressure.

That would be how the Apple Watch can analyze blood pressure without any other complicated cuffs that inflate on your wrist, which would be a disaster since so many things can go wrong with an “Apple Cuff.” 

“You’re using it wrong.”

“You’re placing it wrong.”

The Apple Watch by itself naturally sits on the flat part of your wrist, and you don’t have to tell anyone how to wear it.

But it doesn’t end with the Apple Watch.

Apple already has another device that can be just as good, dare I say, even better at determining blood pressure.

According to researchers at the University of Toronto, noise-cancelling earbuds have the potential to measure blood volume changes in your ears, giving more data points to analyze a person’s blood pressure:

Many earbuds have noise-cancelling technology, which relies on having an outer microphone and an in-ear microphone. The outer microphone listens for ambient sound while the in-ear microphone listens to what’s happening inside the ear. It turns out that the in-ear microphone is able to pick up on some very interesting sounds inside the body, including heart sounds. Research has shown that you can use the audio recorded from inside the body to measure heart rate, but you’re really able to get the same sounds you would hear from a stethoscope. We’re hoping that we can analyze these heart sounds using different signal processing techniques to infer someone’s blood pressure. 

Furthermore, they are even optimistic of bridging many technologies together to get better results:

One study we’re hoping to do alongside this project, or maybe a little later, would be to compare and contrast all the different technologies being considered for blood pressure monitoring – earbuds, smartwatches, smartphones – to see what works best. Can we get better performance with earbuds versus a smartwatch? Can we combine a smartwatch and earbuds to get an even more accurate measurement? 

I found another study where they did use time differences between pulses going into the left and right ear, and they were able to get promising blood pressure results that did not significantly differ from the true blood pressure measured with a proper arm cuff.

They called it “Stereo Blood Pressure,” which just sounds awesome.

Not only that, but their diagram even had a guy wearing AirPods.

These studies still had limitations due to small sample sizes and the candidates all being normal healthy individuals, but it’s still progress.

When will Apple actually implement blood pressure measurements into their devices?

Apple doesn’t want to be first at something, they want to be the best. 

They were first with Siri, and look at what that’s done for them.

Whenever Apple releases blood pressure monitoring, I think it will be a feature for both AirPods and the Apple Watch. They will work together to get the best data and eliminate any hurdles.

For example, you can’t wear AirPods when sleeping, but you can wear your Apple Watch to sleep and get data and information when in a more relaxed state.

Another hurdle could be a lack of data points for better accuracy. Each device separately only provides 2 data points each:

1. Apple Watch - single-lead ECG and PPG on the wrist.

2. AirPods - PPG on the left and right ear.

It’s not hard for most people to wear an Apple Watch and AirPods, so getting information from 4 data points will be a lot easier and unobtrusive.

When you combine those 4 data sets along with advances in AI, machine learning, and historical data analysis, you get a pretty good recipe for blood pressure monitoring. 

Of course it sounds easy on paper, but it makes sense for Apple to take a safer approach like they did with Sleep Apnea. Their blood pressure technology will sense changes in blood pressure and not actually give you a reading like 120/80. It will probably alert you if you have an elevated BP over a sustained amount of time, and it will err on the side of under-diagnosing versus over-diagnosing incorrectly. 

They would rather have false negatives and put their disclaimer similar to their sleep apnea disclaimer:

It's important to remember: not all people with sleep apnea will receive a notification. If you believe you have sleep apnea you should talk to a doctor.

When this technology is released and ready, it will be a game changer for the healthcare industry because of how effortless blood pressure monitoring can be. Simply wear your AirPods and your Apple Watch and go about your day.

The icing on the cake? 

Not knowing when your blood pressure is being taken is the most accurate way of measuring it.

Time to stand.

This is perhaps the most underrated health feature of the Apple Watch, and the most important.

The “Time to stand” function is so important, and something you hopefully you won’t realize too late in life.

As a healthcare professional and as someone who has to stand a lot for work, I can tell you with certainty that the days I have to work and move around a lot, I actually feel less lower back pain. When I am off and sit on a computer trying to think about what to write, I feel more back pain.

I would encourage everyone to take their “Time to stand” reminder seriously because it will help you in the long run.

Remember, sitting is the new smoking.

This feature needs to come back to Apple Watch.

You’re a busy person, and so am I.

You glance at your Apple Watch to pace yourself as you drive away, trying to conquer your checklist for the day.

After all, time is money.

But the reality is, you have already been defeated.

You don’t have your iPhone, and you don’t even know it.

After a while, when you are well past the point of no return, you start feeling your pocket for your iPhone, only to find out it isn’t there. You have your watch on, so you know you can go to your Control Center and hope to see the green iPhone logo. 

Maybe it’s in the center console, or it fell in the car somewhere, you tell yourself with an optimistic, anxious mind. 

But when you raise your shaky finger and click the Side Button, that’s when you see it:

The red iPhone of death.

You feel helpless, and might even hyperventilate with this heart-piercing, visual confirmation of impending doom.

How could they not have told me sooner? 

Why Apple??

Why couldn’t you let me know more aggressively that I forgot my beloved?

Why couldn’t you put the red iPhone logo front and center, staring right back at me the moment my iPhone was not in range?

Why?!

Everything looks fine at first glance…

until you realize your iPhone is missing.

You feel defeated in the moment, until you realize that all hope is not lost. 

You remember back to a time, a simpler time, where Apple used to let you know right on your watch face, that your iPhone is missing. It didn’t matter what watch face you had, but that red iPhone with a slash right through it would show up immediately, letting you know before you get too far that you need to grab your iPhone.

My Series 3 on watchOS 8 lets me know every time without fail. 

Whether you use the Simple watch face, or are admiring the peaceful serenity of Mack Lake with a Timelapse, Apple didn’t hesitate to interrupt you with their passive aggressive way of letting you know:

“Hey genius, you forgot your iPhone.”

That subtle, red, “iPhone logo of death” on your watch face was quick and easy. Bring it back.

We can only hope that in watchOS 12, Apple gives us back this feature. 

Just literally put the disconnected iPhone logo where the red notification dot goes (like it used to!), and call it a day. 

Don’t think different with this one, just do it.

Sleep Apnea detection on the Apple Watch could have been much better with Blood Oxygen data.

Lauren Jeffries from Tom’s Guide talking about how reliable Apple Watch’s sleep apnea detection works:

To avoid the possibility of false positives, Apple decided to prioritise specificity over sensitivity. These terms mean:

Specificity: The percentage of those without moderate to severe sleep apnea who wouldn’t receive a notification

Sensitivity: The percentage of participants with moderate to severe sleep apnea who are correctly identified by the algorithm. 

Apple recorded the notification performance as 66.6% for sensitivity and 95.9% for specificity. This means that there is potential for many cases of sleep apnea to remain undetected even when using the Apple Watch. 

This is what concerns Dr Runge, who says, "The lack of accuracy is a significant issue. I don’t mind the idea that the Apple Watch will “over diagnose” sleep apnea. At least in that setting people will get formal evaluations. It is the under diagnosis that concerns me — people with sleep apnea may say to their partner 'see, I told you I didn’t have sleep apnea.'"

If you look at Apple’s study, sensitivity for severe sleep apnea had a sensitivity of 89.1%, while sensitivity for moderate sleep apnea was 43.4%, giving an average score of 66.3%. What that actually means is the Apple Watch is best at detecting severe sleep apnea 89% of the time. It is not that great at determining moderate sleep apnea at only 43%.

Apple would rather underdiagnose people than give false positives, which is still better than no diagnosis at all. They were able to get this far with just the accelerometer sensor:

The Sleep Apnea Notification Feature is a software-based medical device that analyzes Breathing Disturbance data collected nightly by the Apple Watch accelerometer sensor.

I wonder how much better the Apple Watch could have been at detecting Sleep Apnea if they included Blood Oxygen data, which is another key component in diagnosing sleep apnea. To perform another study at this scale would take years, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple’s sleep apnea detection gets better sensitivity with more crucial data points like blood oxygen levels once the battle with Masimo ends.

Which Apple Watches have Blood Oxygen availability?

The Blood Oxygen sensor on the Apple Watch is a nice tool to help those that require frequent monitoring of their oxygen levels. It can provide data that can help treat people who have lung issues, heart problems, and even blood issues. Unfortunately, support for the Blood Oxygen sensor is limited in the United States due to Apple’s ongoing legal battle:

The removal of the Blood Oxygen feature is the result of an intellectual property ruling from the United States International Trade Commission, which Apple is appealing.

The Blood Oxygen feature is no longer available on units sold by Apple in the United States on or after January 18, 2024. These are indicated with part numbers ending in LW/A. Learn how to identify your Apple Watch.

To make it easier I have made two lists here to show you which Apple Watches do and don’t support Blood Oxygen availability in the United States.

With Blood Oxygen availability:

1. Series 6

2. Series 7

3. Series 8

4. Series 9 model numbers NOT ending in LW/A.

5. Apple Watch Ultra 1

6. Certain Apple Watch Ultra 2 Natural Titanium models NOT ending in LW/A.

Without Blood Oxygen availability:

1. Series 9 model numbers ending in LW/A

2. Apple Watch Ultra 2 model numbers ending in LW/A. This includes all Black Titanium models.

3. All Series 10 models.

If you own a Series 9 or an Ultra 2 in Natural Titanium, you need to go to your Apple Watch app under General > About > Model Number, to see if your watch has Blood Oxygen capabilities.

I have a Series 10 which doesn’t support Blood Oxygen at all, but it is confirmed with the LW/A at the end of my model number.

This patent dispute will eventually get resolved, and once that happens, Apple will resume Blood Oxygen availability for all watches that had it disabled.

If you are buying online through a 3rd party retailer or on eBay, make sure you check the model number so you can tell if the watch has Blood Oxygen capability.

You can also get the model number from the box:

This one has Blood Oxygen enabled…

This one doesn’t.

How about other countries?

If you live in one of the countries where Blood Oxygen is supported (almost every country except the USA), all Series 6 models and higher have Blood Oxygen availability, except the Apple Watch SE and SE2.

If you are traveling abroad, it might be worth buying your Apple Watch from abroad since it will have Blood Oxygen enabled, and you can bring it back to the States and not lose functionality.

Update 1/9/25 @ 7:37PM - changed the description of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 from “Slate” Titanium to “Black”Titanium.