Apple Watch's S8 Chip Features Same CPU as S6 and S7

The S8 chip in the Apple Watch Series 8 is the same chip as the S6 and S7 chips.

The Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch Series 7 have the same T8301 code as the Apple S8 SiP. Apple only compares its S-series chips to the S5 chip or earlier because of this.

It also means that the Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch Series 7, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and second-generation Apple Watch SE all have the same processor. The Apple Watch Series 8 may have had iterated on other parts of the SiP in order to accommodate the new components.

The S6, S7, and S8 chips all have 32 gigabytes of storage. The last time Apple made performance claims about its latest lineup of watches, it said that the chip allowed apps to launch 20 percent quicker.

The S6, S7, and S8 are all based on Apple's A13 Bionic chip from the iPhone 11 lineup. The first Apple chip to be fabricated with a 4nanometer process was the A16 Bionic.

One explanation for Apple not using the A14 chip in its S-series chips is that it would yield better performance, which is no longer needed for the Apple watch. Waiting for TSMC's 3nm process, which is set to enter mass production toward the end of this year, could yield more meaningful efficiency improvements.