Skip to main content

Apple Watch Ultra is the most exciting (and strangest) Apple wearable in years

Apple is introducing an all-new Apple Watch model, called the Apple Watch Ultra. It is geared toward fitness enthusiasts and extreme sports fanatics. The Apple Watch Ultra goes up against the sports-focused Garmins of the world and does so with an extreme price tag.

The rugged Apple Watch Ultra features a water-resistance rating of 100 meters and lasta more than a day, thanks to the bigger form factor, which packs a larger battery. It also comes with a shatter-resistant display packed into the titanium casing. The Apple Watch Ultra is the largest Apple Watch to date at 49mm, with a screen size of just under 2 inches, and it is the brightest display ever on an Apple Watch.

Apple Watch Ultra side.
Apple

The Apple Watch Ultra is made out of aerospace-grade titanium and is corrosion-resistant. You get a new Action button, which is customizable and gives you quick control for a range of functions. Apart from that, the Digital Crown is larger and designed to be used while wearing gloves. Apple Watch Ultra gets a second speaker for increased volume and three microphones for voice clarity even in windy conditions.

Recommended Videos

The new Apple Watch Ultra can last up to 36 hours on a single charge and up to 60 hours using low-power mode. Watch faces have been improved as well to offer the most technical watch face yet, called Wayfinder. It includes a compass on the dial and can be customized for mountains, oceans, and trails. The Apple Watch Ultra gets a night mode where the display turns red for better visibility. The new action button can set off an alert up to 600 feet.

Apple Watch Ultra side
Image used with permission by copyright holder

There are two new bands as well, including the Ocean band and the Trial loop. The former has a titanium buckle, whereas the latter is Apple’s thinnest band yet. The company is touting the Watch Ultra as packing the best GPS on any sports smartwatch yet. It also comes with new precision, dual-frequency GPS and new algorithms. The Action button instantly transitions from one leg of the race to the next. There is also a new feature that detects when you arrive at an end point of your race.

As for endurance, the bigger battery makes a huge difference as it makes sure that your Apple Watch Ultra lasts for the duration of long-distance triathlon without losing GPS or heart rate. The location of your trailhead or tent can be quickly added using the Action button (waypoint) if you are hiking. It uses GPS data to retrace your steps, which automatically turns on when you go off the grid.

Apple Watch Ultra.
Apple

The Apple Watch Ultra gets a built-in depth gauge, and displays duration underwater and water temperature. It is certified to EN13319, the standard for diving. Apple is collaborating with Huish to make the new Watch Ultra a dive computer for recreational scuba diving up to 30 meters. There is also a new Oceanic Plus app for the device. Dive metrics are simple and easy to read, and you can constantly track dive parameters. Unlike most dive computers, which require a complex sequence of buttons, this app uses simple gestures like the Digital Crown or Action button.

The Apple Watch Ultra is priced at $799 for all models, and it will be available starting September 23.

Prakhar Khanna
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Prakhar Khanna is an independent consumer tech journalist. He contributes to Digital Trends' Mobile section with features and…
Apple Watch owners can earn an exclusive reward to celebrate its 10th birthday
Activity Rings on the Apple Watch Series 10.

Apple is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch by marking April 24 as Global Close Your Rings Day, giving owners an exclusive reward when they close all their Activity rings.

The company shared plans for the Apple Watch's milestone birthday in a press release on Monday, encouraging users to be more active throughout the day and close their move, stand, and exercise rings in order to receive an exclusive reward created especially to celebrate the Activity rings that came with the first batch of the Apple Watch line, as well the Activity app on iPhone. If you close all your rings by doing the exercises you love and move around more during the day, you'll get a limited-edition badge with gold borders, plus 10 colorful animated stickers for the Messages app.

Read more
Apple Intelligence is coming to the Apple Watch in a limited capacity
A person wearing the Apple Watch SE 2.

In his most recent Power On newsletter, Apple insider Mark Gurman says the Apple Watch won't be receiving onboard Apple Intelligence, but it will still get useful features that are powered by AI. While the Apple Watch isn't receiving a major overhaul, Gurman says it will get some new interface elements and give users a "smaller taste of the big shifts underway at Apple."

These upcoming changes will be announced in more detail at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC). Gurman says the two main subjects of the June event will be Apple Intelligence and something called Solarium, the internal name for a new design language Apple plans to implement for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Read more
Apple Watch saves another life by helping detect woman’s fast-spreading cancer
The Apple Watch Series 10 and the Apple Watch Series 3, seen from the front.

There are countless heartwarming stories about different ways the Apple Watch has helped saved people's lives. In addition to the emergency SOS and fall detection features, the Watch offers a suite of insights which can help identify precursors to life-threatening diseases. Recently, a similar story made news when a woman's cancer was caught, thanks to active alerts from an Apple Watch 10.

Amanda Faulkner, a consulting psychiatrist from New Zealand, recently narrated her story where her Apple Watch 10 helped diagnose a rare form of blood cancer, which, if left undiagnosed, would have left her dead in a matter of few days. Faulkner told the New Zealand Herald that her Apple Watch notified her of her unusually high resting heart rate of around 90 beats per minute -- which would typically be around 55 for her.

Read more