The Apple Watch Series 5 appears to be using same CPU as the Series 4
- sep
- 18
What you need to know
- The Apple Watch Series 5 appears be using the same CPU and GPU as the Series 4.
- This was confirmed through Xcode by developer Steve Troughton-Smith.
- The only internal upgrades Apple made to the Series 5 is adding a new gyroscope and including 32GB of storage.
Apple just renamed it the S5 chip.
When Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 5, many wondered if the processor was upgraded as it spent no time talking about it. Now we know why. It appears Apple is still using the same CPU and GPU from the Series 4 model.
Developer Steve Troughton-Smith revealed he discovered this through Xcode.
According to Xcode, Apple Watch Series 5 has the same generation CPU/GPU as the Apple Watch Series 4; I guess the only changes are a gyro and 32GB of NAND? The plus side of that is that we won't have to worry about watchOS being slower on the Series 4 than on a brand new model
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) September 18, 2019
Apple says on its site the Apple Watch Series 5 uses an S5 processor, but that seems to be only a slight rebranding to keep up with the Series 5 name. Processing-wise, it'll deliver the same performance as the S4 chip which is 2x faster performance than the S3 chip found inside the Series 3.
Troughton-Smith does point out that this means the Series 4 owners don't have to worry about lagging behind the new model. Aside from missing the always-on display and a few other minor upgrades like the Compass app and upgrade to 32GB of storage, performance should be the same.
He did go on to say he also discovered that every new iPhone 11 model comes with 4GB of RAM, confirming an earlier report.
The lack of major processing power update for the Apple Watch Series 5 is a bit disappointing, but seeing as it replaced the Series 4 instead of being sold alongside it, it makes the purchase predicament clear for potential customers. The Series 5 is the Apple Watch you should buy right now.