Apple Watch Series 7 shares the same chip as the current model — don't expect a performance bump this time around

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Apple Watch S6 Sip
Apple Watch S6 Sip (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • The new Apple Watch Series 7 doesn't have a chip to call its own, instead borrowing from the outgoing Series 6.
  • The discovery was made via Xcode spelunking carried out by developer Steve Troughton-Smith.

The newly announced Apple Watch Series 7 is unlikely to be any faster than the outgoing Apple Watch Series 6 thanks to the news that the pair share the same System in Package (SiP.)

The heart of the Apple Watch, the SiP is the equivalent of the A-series chips we see in iPhones and other devices. While Apple does tend to refresh the SIP with each new Apple Watch, it isn't unheard of for it to recycle older ones. That's the case here, as spied by developer Steve Troughton Smith when diving into Xcode.

Apple appears to be reusing the S6 chip that powered Apple Watch Series 6 and, as a result, is unlikely to load apps any faster than the older Apple Watch. That's a shame, but not a deal-breaker — the new wearable still offers a bigger display and battery improvements. If you're looking for the best Apple Watch available, Apple Watch Series 7 is very much it.

However, following disappointment caused by leaks that turned out to be incorrect, some are using this as another reason to call the new watch a disappointment. I feel that new display could be a bigger deal than most realize, but we'll all need to see these things in the flesh to know for sure. With Apple not announcing when the new watches will go on sale, there's no telling when that will actually be.

Apple announced Apple Watch Series 7 during its California Streaming event — the same event also saw the arrival of iPhone 13 and much more.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.