With the introduction of new Apple Watch Series 8 models and the updated Apple Watch SE, Apple has officially discontinued the outdated Apple Watch Series 3, which was once sold as a low $199 price.
Since 2015, the Apple Watch Series 3 has the same design as the original Apple Watch models, without the larger case Apple introduced with the Series 4 models, and it’s also the first Apple Watch to offer cellular connectivity at launch .
The Apple Watch Series 3 uses the Apple S3 chip, an older, slower variant of the Apple Watch chip. The Apple Watch Series 3 never offered much of an advantage in terms of performance, and it was noticeably underpowered compared to modern Apple Watch models. The Apple Watch Series 3 has been on shelves for the past few years, and its extremely long life cycle often makes it a joke.
The Apple Watch Series 3 is also the lowest-priced Apple smartwatch model, with Apple selling the Apple Watch Series 3 for $199, and even lower prices can be found at third-party retailers. After midnight this morning, the lowest-priced Apple Watch option is now the $249 Apple Watch SE, which has a much more advanced S8 chip and a more modern design than the Apple Watch Series 3.
The discontinuation of the Apple Watch Series 3 is not a surprise, as the unit cannot run watchOS 9 and is only compatible with Series 4 and later. The Series 3 is limited to watchOS 8 and will no longer receive any major operating system updates. Before the 8-series models were launched, the 3-series sold out, and many models were out of stock.
