The Apple Watch Series 10 is the first model to refresh the seconds hand even when the always-on display is dimmed. Previously, on Series 5 through Series 9, only the hour and minute hands updated in this mode. At launch, however, only three watch faces support this new feature.
The first two watch faces, Flux and Reflections, continue showing a ticking seconds hand even when the display is dim. Flux uses a rising vertical line to track seconds throughout each minute. Reflections, on the other hand, features traditional analog watch hands, with the seconds hand sweeping when the screen is fully on and ticking once per second when dimmed. Reflections also offers two layouts: a full-screen version and a circular design with four complication slots.
The third watch face is an update to the Activity Digital face, which has included a seconds option since Series 5. Previously, the seconds hand would disappear when the display dimmed. On Series 10, the seconds hand continues ticking once per second, even in the always-on mode.
Unfortunately, Apple has not updated any other existing watch faces to support this new display behavior. However, two new watch faces introduced since the launch of Series 10 do take advantage of the feature. The 2025 Unity Rhythm face, released in January, uses analog hands that update the seconds hand just like Reflections. Most recently, the 2025 Pride Harmony face, introduced with watchOS 11.5, also features analog hands and supports second updates while dimmed.
As a result, five watch faces are now optimized for the Series 10’s new display capabilities. However, more than 40 other faces do not yet support the feature. While the Apple Watch Series 10 finally matches the real-time second updates of a basic analog or digital watch, most watch faces still do not utilize this functionality. It is hoped that watchOS 12 will bring seconds-hand support to all faces, ensuring every watch face fully leverages the device’s new hardware.