Can Apple Watch SE 2 use my old bands?

Apple Watch SE 2
(Image credit: Apple)

Can Apple Watch SE 2 use my old bands?

Best answer: Yes, as long as you stick to the same watch size. Bands for the original 40mm Apple Watch SE will fit the 40mm Apple Watch SE 2, while bands for the original 44mm Apple Watch SE will fit the 44mm Apple Watch SE 2. Bands are not interchangeable between the 40mm and 44mm sizes.

Can I use the bands from other Apple Watch models?

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Yes. Since its inception, the Apple Watch has come in two sizes, a smaller size and larger size. The original Apple Watch sizes were 38mm for the smaller watch and 42mm for the larger one. Over the years, the displays have gotten larger. The Apple Watch Series 8 sports 41mm and 45mm displays on the smaller and larger models, respectively. Yet any bands that fit the original smaller Apple Watch (38mm) will be interchangeable with any smaller model Apple Watch, including the Series 8, SE, and SE 2. Any of the best Apple Watch bands that fit the original larger Apple Watch (42mm) will fit any larger model Apple Watch, including the Series 8, SE, SE 2, and even the Apple Watch Ultra (49mm.)

Can I switch bands between the Apple Watch SE 2 40mm and 44mm sizes?

No, you cannot. The smaller and larger Apple Watches require different size bands. This is true for any generation Apple Watch.

How does the Apple Watch SE 2 differ from the original Apple Watch SE?

The original Apple Watch SE and the Apple Watch SE 2 share quite a lot of features: 1000-nit ion-X glass Retina display, W3 wireless chip, optical heart sensor, high and low heart rate notifications, irregular rhythm notifications, emergency calling and SOS, fall detection, 50-meter water resistance, GPS, compass, 32GB capacity, and more. The only feature difference is that the Apple Watch SE 2 also offers Crash Detection, a new feature making use of the wearable's sensors that will notify emergency services should the device detect movement in line with car crash data. The color options vary as well: the original Apple Watch SE came in gold, silver, and space gray while the Apple Watch SE 2 comes in starlight (champagne gold), midnight (blackened navy), and silver.

Karen S Freeman
Contributor

Karen is a contributor to iMore.com as a writer and co-host of the iMore Show. She’s been writing about Apple since 2010 with a year-long break to work at an Apple Store as a product specialist. She's also a contributor at TechRadar and Tom's Guide. Before joining iMore in 2018, Karen wrote for Macworld, CNET, AppAdvice, and WatchAware. She’s an early adopter who used to wait in long lines on release days before pre-ordering made things much easier. Karen is also a part-time teacher and occasional movie extra. She loves to spend time with her family, travel the world, and is always looking for portable tech and accessories so she can work from anywhere.