as noted in our 2024 assessment. In the latest models, the Digital Crown highlight became an orange circle that is exclusively available for Apple Watch Ultra editions. Prior to that, for several years, Apple introduced a prominent red dot on the Digital Crown to indicate that the model included cellular capabilities — which made it slightly pricier.
On the Series 3, in 2017, the red dot served as a significant differentiator between the GPS and cellular models. In 2018, Apple revamped the design to the red ring that has been featured in most Apple Watches over the last ten years. This indicated that the company would provide a variant of the aluminum Apple Watch Series and Apple Watch SE without the red ring, while consistently including it on the stainless steel and titanium versions of its wearables.