You remember 2016? It was the year of Pokémon Go, that one specific Drake album, and the moment Apple finally figured out what their watch was actually supposed to be.
Before the Series 2 landed, the "Apple Watch" was basically a notification vibrating on your wrist that looked pretty but felt a bit... fragile? It was "splash resistant," which is tech-speak for "don't you dare jump in a pool with this." Then came the apple watch series 2 features reveal, and things shifted. Apple stopped trying to sell it as a high-fashion jewelry piece for Beyoncé and started selling it to people who actually sweat.
Honestly, if you look at the Series 2 today, it’s the blueprint for every modern Ultra or Series 10 we see. It was the first time they put GPS inside. It was the first time you could actually go for a swim without a rice bag waiting at home.
The GPS leap (And why your iPhone finally stayed home)
Let’s talk about the built-in GPS. This was the headline.
Before this, if you wanted to track your run, you had to strap your giant iPhone 6s to your arm like a bulky bicep cuff. The Series 2 changed that. It used a combination of Wi-Fi, GPS, and locally stored satellite data to figure out where you were almost instantly.
Was it perfect? Kinda.
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Early testers, like the folks over at 9to5Mac, noted that while it was great for runs, the open-water swim mapping could be a little "creative" with the lines it drew. But the freedom was the point. You could run, the watch would log your pace and distance, and when you got back to your phone, a colorful map would just appear in the Activity app. It felt like magic back then.
Swimming: The "Water Lock" and the spitting speaker
This is my favorite part. Apple didn't just make the watch water-resistant to 50 meters (ISO standard 22810:2010); they solved a physics problem with sound.
Since a speaker needs air to vibrate and make noise, you can't just seal it off. So, Apple designed the speaker to literally eject water. After a swim, you’d turn the Digital Crown, and the watch would emit a series of rhythmic, low-frequency beeps. These vibrations would physically push the water out of the speaker cavity.
It’s still one of the coolest pieces of engineering in a wearable.
The "Water Lock" feature also debuted here. Because water droplets can trick a capacitive touchscreen into thinking you’re tapping it, the watch would lock the screen the second you started a "Pool Swim" or "Open Water Swim" workout. No more accidental workout pauses because a wave hit your wrist.
That 1,000-nit screen was a game changer
If you ever used the original "Series 0" or the Series 1, you know the pain of squinting at your wrist on a sunny Tuesday. The original screens were around 450 nits.
The apple watch series 2 features included a second-generation OLED Retina display that hit 1,000 nits. That is literally more than twice as bright.
It meant that even in direct midday sun, the text didn't wash out. It looked painted on. For a device meant to be used outdoors, this wasn't just a "nice to have" spec—it was the difference between the watch being useful or being a piece of reflective glass.
Under the hood: The S2 Chip
Everything got faster, but maybe not as fast as we hoped at the time. The S2 chip was a dual-core beast compared to the single-core S1.
Apple claimed a 50% increase in CPU performance and double the graphics power. In reality? Apps that used to take 10 seconds to load now took maybe 3 or 4. It wasn't "instant" yet—we’d have to wait for later models for that—but it made Siri actually usable. You didn't have to hold your wrist up like a dork for half a minute waiting for a timer to set.
Materials: Aluminum, Steel, and the White Ceramic
The Series 2 saw the end of the $10,000 gold "Edition" (thank god) and the birth of the Ceramic Edition. It was a stunning, milky white case that was four times harder than stainless steel. It also cost about $1,249, which was a lot, but a bargain compared to the solid gold versions of the year before.
Most people stuck with the aluminum or stainless steel, though.
- Aluminum: Used Ion-X glass. Lightweight. Great for the gym.
- Stainless Steel: Used sapphire crystal. Heavy. Basically scratch-proof.
- Ceramic: The "flex" model of 2016.
Interestingly, the Series 2 was actually about 0.9mm thicker than the original. Most people didn't notice, but it was there to house the bigger battery needed for that GPS and the brighter screen.
What about the battery?
Despite all the new tech, the battery life stayed at the "18-hour" mark. Apple has been weirdly consistent with that number for a decade.
If you didn't use the GPS, you could easily get through a day and a half. But if you went for a two-hour hike with GPS tracking on? You were definitely charging that thing before dinner. It was a trade-off.
Does the Series 2 still matter?
You can't really run modern watchOS on a Series 2 anymore. It topped out at watchOS 6.2.8.
But if you find one in a drawer, it’s a fascinating piece of tech history. It’s the moment the Apple Watch became a "fitness" device first and a "gadget" second. It introduced the Nike+ partnership with those iconic perforated "Swiss cheese" bands that are still popular today.
If you are looking to buy an older watch now, honestly, skip this and go for a SE or a Series 4 at minimum. But we owe the Series 2 a lot. It gave us the water-ejection, the high-brightness screens, and the independent GPS that we now take for granted.
Actionable Insights for Legacy Users:
If you're still rocking a Series 2 or found one recently, keep these things in mind to keep it alive. First, don't expect the water resistance to be factory-perfect anymore; seals degrade over time, especially if you've exposed it to soaps or sunscreen over the years. Second, if the battery is struggling, disabling "Wake on Wrist Raise" can give you a few extra hours of life. Finally, remember that it only supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, so if you're having connection issues with your modern router, that's likely why.