Why Some Apple Watches Have A Red Ring On The Digital Crown

Apple sells three different lines of Apple Watches: the regular Series models (currently on version 11), the SE models, and the Ultra lineup. While most Apple Watches look very similar, a red ring on the Digital Crown has always been present in many units.

This design choice was launched with the Apple Watch Series 3, but was ditched on the Series 10, as we noted in our 2024 review. In current models, the Digital Crown accent became an orange circle that is only available for Apple Watch Ultra models. But before that, for many years, Apple added a large red dot to the Digital Crown to show that the model had cellular support — which made it a bit more expensive.

On the Series 3, in 2017, the red dot was a big differentiator between the GPS and cellular versions. In 2018, Apple changed the design to the red ring we've seen in most Apple Watches over the past decade. That meant the company would offer a version of the aluminum Apple Watch Series and Apple Watch SE without the red ring, but always making it present on stainless steel and titanium version of its wearables.

The Apple Watch Series 3 with a red ring Digital Crown featured 3G capabilities, and it was the first Apple product to support eSIM. At that time, its expansion was really slow, because not every carrier offered support for eSIM on a wearable. For example, Brazil got the Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) a few months after the release of the original GPS model.

Starting with Apple Watch Series 4 all the way through Series 10, Apple upgraded these watches with 4G LTE. More interestingly, during these years, Apple made the LTE versions more useful thanks to features like Fall Detection and Crash Detection, which call emergency in case of a hard fall or car crash.

In 2025, a year after Apple removed the red ring from the Apple Watch Series and SE lineups, the company introduced 5G capabilities for the Series 11, Ultra 3, and SE 3 models. The Ultra 3 model, specifically, has an algorithm can use two system antennas when coverage isn't ideal to make the signal strength better.

Let's go back to 2022, when Apple introduced the Watch Ultra Series. During this period, the company still offered models with a red ring, but the Ultra was the first one to ditch red for orange. While the company never addressed this change, it was part of a broader new design direction as the company introduced "international orange" accents to other parts of the product, like wristbands and the Action Button – which was later carried to the iPhone 15 Pro.

When the company unveiled the new Titanium Black color for the Apple Watch Ultra 2 in 2024, it continued to include the orange circle. With the release of the Ultra 3 in 2025, with upgraded 5G capabilities, Apple stuck to its Digital Crown design choice for the lineup, even though all the other models no longer had it, regardless of their cellular capabilities.

That said, if you ever see an Apple Watch with a red or orange ring, this means these devices may support cellular capabilities. From the Apple Watch Series 10 onwards, released in late 2024, it's impossible to tell if the device has LTE support by only looking at the Digital Crown.