The Apple Watch Series 5 was announced on September 10, 2019. Its principal improvements over its predecessor were the addition of a compass and an always-on display with a low-power display driver capable of refresh rates as low as once per second. Additional new features include International Emergency Calling, enabling emergency calls in over 150 countries, a more energy-efficient S5 processor, improved ambient light sensor, and storage doubled to 32 GB. The release of the Series 5 also brought back the "Edition" model, with a ceramic model absent from the previous generation. A new titanium model was also included in two colors: natural and Space Black.
The Series 5 also incorporate enhanced hardware- and software-based battery and performance management functionality.
Critics generally gave it a positive review. CNET gave it a score of 4/5, concluding, "The Apple Watch continues to be one of the best smartwatches, but it remains limited by being an iPhone accessory for now." Digital Trends gave it a score of 4.5/5. The Verge gave it a score of 9/10.
The Apple Watch Series 5 was available in Space Gray, Silver, and Gold aluminum case color options, as well as Space Black, Silver, and Gold stainless steel case color options.
The Apple Watch Edition Series 5 was the final Apple Watch model available with White ceramic case color option. It was the first Apple Watch model to add the new Natural and Space Black titanium case color options.
Software support for the Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, and the first-generation Apple Watch SE ended with watchOS 10.6.1.