Apple Watch 9 vs Apple Watch 8

Apple Watch 9 was released in September 2023 and Apple Watch 8 was released in September 2022. We compare the ninth-generation Apple Watch and the eighth-generation Apple Watch.

Smartwatch features covered in this post

Main differences

Apple Watch 9 uses an S9 chip and Apple Watch 8 is based on the S8 chip. A detailed comparison of the S9 chip and the S8 chip is shared below.
Apple Watch 9 has 64 GB storage and Apple Watch 8 has 32 GB storage.
Apple Watch 9 has a peak brightness of 2000 nits and Apple Watch 8 has a peak brightness of 1000 nits.
Apple Watch 9 has introduced the double tap feature. The details of the feature are shared below.

We look at these differences in detail below.

Chip

Apple Watch 9 uses the 64-bit dual-processor S9 chip. This ninth-generation processor chip is better than the S8 chip as it has over 60 percent higher number of transistors.

A summary of differences between the S9 chip and S8 chip of Apple smartwatches is given below:

S9 chip is compatible with the double tap feature of the Apple Watch 9
S9 chip is more power efficient.
S9 chip features a 60 percent higher number of transistors (5.6 billion) than the S8 chip
The GPU or graphics processing of the S9 chip is up to 30 percent faster than the S8 chip
The neural engine in an S9 chip is twice as fast as the S8 chip. The S9 chip uses a 4-core neural engine.

The neural engine is used for Artificial intelligence and machine language tasks. A faster neural engine ensures better efficiency in terms of the AI and machine language processing on the smartwatch.

Display

Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch 8 use the same display technology. Both watches can support Always-on-Retina OLED display.

The essential difference lies in the peak brightness capabilities.

Apple Watch 9 has a peak brightness of up to 2000 nits
Apple Watch 8 has a peak brightness of up to 1000 nits

The display and watch sizes of the Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch 8 are the same. Both watches have case size options of 45 mm and 41 mm.

Storage

Apple Watch 9 has 64 GB internal storage. The Apple Watch 8 has 32 GB internal storage.

Double tap feature

The S9 chip in the Apple Watch 9 is compatible with the double tap feature. The double tap feature is a new feature that helps in improving the user experience.

The double-tap feature is a gesture action feature. You can tap your index finger and thumb together twice to answer a call, reply to a message, see and scroll through your Smart Stack, and more.

The double-tap feature can be turned on or off. You can also open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, go to Settings > Gestures, then tap Double Tap.

Final verdict

Apple Watch 8 is no longer available for purchase. If you already have an Apple Watch 8 and wish to consider getting an Apple Watch 9, you will get the following additional features or capabilities:

Double tap feature
S9 chip with better performance than the S8 chip
Double the internal storage of 64 GB
Higher peak brightness of up to 2000 nits