Apple announces its Watch Series 9 will have new ‘hand gestures’ feature that can be controlled without touch – as company prepares to unveil iPhone 15 at 2023 flagship event

  • Apple kicked off its annual September event with a new Apple Watch Series 9
  • The Apple Watch has machine learning and a battery life of 18 hours

Apple announced its new Apple Watch Series 9 with features on Tuesday a contactless ability to answer calls and snooze alarms – users tape their index finger and thumb together to perform these tasks.

It uses machine learning to detect small changes in blood flow when the user taps their fingers together, freeing up the other hand for other tasks like walking a dog or holding a cup of coffee, according to Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams.

The Series 9 is designed with the tech giant’s most powerful chip – the S9-Chp – which is twice as fast as the chip introduced in 2022.

Along with a new device, Apple announced innovative features including Name Drop between the devices and the ability to sync your Watch with a Home Pod.

The event will also feature the highly anticipated iPhone 15, which is said to be the biggest refresh to its smartphone line in years.

Apple kicked off its annual product event in September with emotional stories from people whose lives were saved by the Apple Watch – and then unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 9

Apple kicked off its annual product event in September with emotional stories from people whose lives were saved by the Apple Watch – and then unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 9

Apple kicked off its annual September event with experiences from several Apple Watch owners whose devices have saved their lives, either through the heart rate monitor or the SOS emergency function.

While these life-saving features are crucial, the tech giant has rolled out new updates with the Series 9.

The new internal hardware of Apple Watches that picks up the hand gestures makes the double-tap function possible.

The Series 8 offers up to 1,000 nits of brightness, but the latest model maxes out at 2,000.

Name Drop will be released with the upcoming iOS 17 update, which will allow users to tap their device to share contacts.

However, it is not expected to appear on the Apple Watch until later this year.

The Series 9 will look the same as previous models, but will have updated colors including pink, starlight and silver.

The Series 9 is designed with the tech giant's most powerful chip – the S9-Chp – which is twice as fast as the chip introduced in 2022

The Series 9 is designed with the tech giant’s most powerful chip – the S9-Chp – which is twice as fast as the chip introduced in 2022