Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 4 today, which it touted as being thinner than previous models. This is only partially true: the upcoming fourth-generation Apple Watch is the thinnest since the Series 2, which had an 11.4mm case compared to this year’s 10.7mm version.
However, if you compare the Series 4 to the first-generation Apple Watch, you’ll find that the newer model is 0.2mm thicker; the original came in at just 10.5mm when it launched in 2015. (Of course, the Series 2 added GPS and water resistance, so it’s hard to fault Apple for adding 0.9mm of thickness to the overall case.)
The dimensions get even more intriguing when you start to consider the footprint of the newest Apple Watch. The Series 4 comes in 44mm and 40mm versions, compared to the 42mm and 38mm variants we’ve seen in past models. The 44mm version also has a 977-square-millimeter face compared to last year’s 740-square-millimeter on the biggest model. The smaller 40mm Apple Watch has a 759-square-millimeter face compared to the 563-square-millimeter one on last year’s 38mm model.
The end result is that the newest Apple Watch does, in fact, have a larger display than last year’s model, but it’s indeed thinner. The device is, however, more expensive. The new Series 4 starts at $399 for a GPS version or $499 for LTE, while the updated pricing for the last-gen Apple Watches is $279 for GPS and $379 for the LTE variant.