Apple Watch Prices Before September 18: The Three Numbers Apple Publishes, and Nine It Does Not

Apple Watch Series 12 Sport Bands
Image: Apple

Every Apple Watch price Apple has published for this launch fits in three figures: From $249 for SE 3, From $399 for Series 12 and From $799 for Ultra 4. There is no fourth number, and no per-configuration list anywhere on Apple’s site.

Apple Watch Series 12 Pearl White Ceramic with Sand Sport Band
Ceramic returns on Series 12 in pearl white and night blue, at a price Apple has not published. Image: Apple

That means a buyer cannot work out from Apple what a 46mm case, a titanium case, a ceramic case, a cellular model, a specific band or a Hermes edition costs. Nine separate figures are missing before the watches reach stores on September 18, and they are listed below.

The three prices Apple publishes

ModelApple’s published priceApple Upgrade lease
Apple Watch SE 3From $249Not published
Apple Watch Series 12From $399$11.99 a month over 24 months for a 42mm
Apple Watch Ultra 4From $799$24.99 a month over 24 months

Apple ties the $399 figure specifically to a Series 12 42mm in a footnote on the product page, which confirms the starting configuration is the smaller aluminum GPS model. Every step up from there is unpriced.

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Apple Watch Ultra 4 hero
Ultra 4 starts at $799 with roughly 20 band combinations and no band prices. Image: Apple

Why the configuration price is missing

Apple’s Watch shop pages carry the starting prices only, and its comparison page renders its price fields as unfilled placeholder codes rather than dollar figures. Series 12 spans two sizes, three case materials, eight finishes and two connectivity options, and not one of those combinations has a published price.

Ultra 4 is simpler as hardware and no clearer at checkout: Apple lists roughly 20 band combinations across Trail Loop, Alpine Loop, Ocean Band and Titanium Milanese Loop with no prices attached. The Hermes line shows around a dozen configurations across Series 12 and Ultra 4, also unpriced.

Apple Watch Series 12 Hermes Rocabar Club bands
The Hermes Series 12 bands Apple showed, none of them priced. Image: Apple

The monthly figures Apple did publish

Two lease figures exist. Apple quotes $11.99 a month over 24 months for a Series 12 42mm and $24.99 a month for Ultra 4, within an Apple Upgrade program that starts at $11.99 a month for Apple Watch on 12 or 24 month terms.

Apple Upgrade is a lease provided by Klarna and it does not include AppleCare, which customers add separately. Multiply the published figures out and 24 payments come to $287.76 and $599.76, below the $399 and $799 purchase prices, because a lease ends in an upgrade, a buyout or a return rather than ownership. If nothing is done, Apple says the lease converts to a month-to-month arrangement for up to six months.

The nine figures Apple has not published

  • Series 12 prices for 46mm, titanium, ceramic or any cellular model.
  • SE 3 prices for the 44mm case or the cellular option.
  • Ultra 4 prices for any band other than the starting configuration.
  • Prices for the new Sport Band, Sport Loop, Milanese Loop and Modern Buckle colors, or for any Ultra band sold separately.
  • Any Apple Watch Hermes price, for Series 12 or Ultra 4.
  • An AppleCare+ price for Series 12 or Ultra 4. Apple’s pricing tables carry the rows and serve no figures.
  • A trade-in value for any individual Apple Watch model. Apple’s trade-in page publishes a questionnaire, not a table.
  • An Apple Upgrade lease figure for SE 3.
  • A repair price for any product Apple announced on September 9.

The only AppleCare figures Apple has published for this launch are AppleCare One at $19.99 a month for up to three products, at $5.99 a month for each device beyond that, and AppleCare One Family at $49.99 a month for up to six people through Family Sharing, available from September 14. Neither is a per-watch price.

What Apple does publish that lowers the price

RouteWhat Apple publishes
Apple Trade InA questionnaire and an instant credit at purchase, with no per-model Watch value
Apple Upgrade$11.99 a month for Series 12 42mm, $24.99 for Ultra 4, AppleCare not included
Veterans and Military Purchase Program10 percent off Apple products and accessories, with Apple Card installments and Apple Upgrade unavailable in that storefront
Certified RefurbishedUp to 15 percent off, one-year warranty, AppleCare eligible, Watch named as a covered category
Consumer discount on new watchesNone published

What has not been confirmed

Beyond the nine figures above, Apple has not published a UK price for Ultra 4 on a page we can cite, has not said when configuration prices will appear, and has not settled its own sensor wording: the Series 12 electrical heart sensor has been recorded on Apple’s pages as both second-generation and third-generation, so we attach no generation number to it. The comparison grid separately marks ECG and Blood Oxygen on SE 3 where the SE 3 specs page lists neither, which is another reason to read the per-model pages.

Series 12 and Ultra 4 reach stores on Friday, September 18, and watchOS 27 arrives free on Monday, September 14. Configuration prices normally appear when a buyer reaches the final step of Apple’s own checkout, which for now is the only place to see them. Our event recap has every figure Apple did publish on September 9.