Amazon Cuts Apple Watch 11 to $299 Ahead of Series 12 Launch

Q: With the Series 12 just weeks away, is this $299 Series 11 deal a steal or a clever trap for outdated tech?

It is more steal than trap for the right buyer, but only if you do not care about owning Apple’s newest watch next month. At $299, the GPS 42mm Series 11 is $100 off and only about $20 above its record low. That matters because the Series 12 is widely expected to start at the same $399 price, while reports suggest this year’s upgrade will be modest: mainly a faster chip, possible battery gains, and smaller health or fitness refinements rather than a redesign. The Series 11 is not obsolete. It remains a current-generation-feeling watch with Apple’s key health and safety tools, including ECG, sleep tracking with Sleep Score, fall detection, crash detection, and hypertension notifications. It also supports the latest watchOS features. Buyers should be clear, though, that the hypertension tool is a screening feature, not a true blood-pressure monitor, and Apple Watch still cannot give cuff-style blood pressure readings. The main reason to wait is simple: if you always want the longest support runway, the newest processor, and the strongest resale value, the Series 12 will likely be the smarter buy at full price. That is especially true for people already using a Series 9, 10, or 11, since the jump is unlikely to be dramatic either way. For anyone upgrading from an older watch, or buying their first Apple Watch, the Series 11 at $299 is a strong value rather than a trap. The discount is large enough to outweigh the likely small improvements coming in a few weeks.

3 articles · Updated · TechRadar · Aug 25

$299 gets buyers the Apple Watch 11 at Amazon, down $100 from its original $399 price and just $20 above its record low.
The discount lands weeks before Apple's expected September event, where the Apple Watch 12 is widely anticipated to debut alongside the next iPhone.
Series 11 remains Apple's thinnest and most durable smartwatch, with 2x better scratch resistance than its predecessor, 5G connectivity and up to 24 hours of battery life.
Health features on the current model include hypertension detection and advanced sleep tracking with a personalized Sleep Score, while the Watch 12 is expected to start at the same $399 price.