Everything You Need to Know About the Apple Watch Ultra
With the 2022 Apple Event in early September, they announced upgrades to the iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods. It also included a large overhaul of iOS and major updates to watchOS. As part of the new Apple Watch releases, Apple introduced the new Apple Watch Ultra, a significantly larger and more advanced watch that competes with other multisport watches like Garmin and Suunto. Not only is it a more affordable price compared to other brands, but it comes with far more capabilities, convenience, and advanced technology.
Find out everything you need to know about the Apple Watch Ultra, what makes it different from the rest of the lineup, the specifications, and the price.
What’s New with the Apple Watch Ultra
From an overall design, the Apple Watch Ultra is still similar to the Apple Watch Series 8 but has a thicker chassis to incorporate new components like a larger, louder speaker and three-microphone array, plus a bigger battery. It is a larger size at 49mm and is made to be more durable and tough, with a more athletic look and feel. In the same vein, it’s made using titanium, enabling it to withstand more environments and activities.
There is far more attention to detail with this watch. To date, it is the largest smartwatch in the Apple lineup! The Apple Watch Ultra is made for the outdoors niche, and people who want specialized sports capabilities. This watch accommodates scuba divers, outdoor adventurers, and endurance athletes like marathon and triathlon runners.
It also comes with 2 buttons: the Digital Crown and an “Action” button. The Digital Crown on the Apple Watch Ultra is larger and has grooved notches to easily maneuver with a gloved hand. The large, customizable “Action” button can be used to start tracking workouts and perform other commonly used functions quickly.
Designed to be more durable, the Apple Watch Ultra can operate on-wrist at temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius or as high as 55 degrees Celsius. With a Military-grade durability rating, it is prepared to withstand conditions like rain, humidity, immersion in sand and dust, freezing, shock, vibration, and water up to 100m.
Display
With a 2-inch LTPO OLED screen, the watch features a flat sapphire crystal protection on the display. To protect the large Retina display, the case surrounds the edges of the watch, making it more crack resistant.
Released with the iPhone 14 Pro, the Apple Watch Ultra also comes with the Always-On display feature, allowing the main screen to be seen even when it isn’t completely on. At its peak, this display can go bright: up to 2,000 nits which is twice as bright as any other Apple Watch in the lineup. The display also features Night Mode, which turns the interface red to make it easier to see without interfering with night-adjusted vision.
Fitness
Since the Apple Watch Ultra is made for active individuals, the features emphasize health tracking. These improvements include advanced workout metrics like Heart Rate Zones, Power, and Elevation, as well as the ability to transition between workouts with Multisport. Apple has also made the watch with more running capabilities, measuring stride length and vertical oscillation, and race routing which will be available late 2022 or early 2023.
Health Features
This watch will come with the expected sensors for heart rate monitoring, detecting falls, measuring blood oxygen, ECG, and temperature sensing. The new Medicine experience will help manage a list of medicines and set up schedules and reminders. It will also track better sleep patterns with an improved algorithm.
Emergency Services
New motion sensors and a machine learning algorithm also detect if users have been in a severe car crash and automatically call emergency services. The watch will also use the built-in barometer to detect pressure changes associated with airbag deployment. It will provide the user's location to dispatchers and notify their emergency contacts.
The Ultra also comes with an emergency siren that can be heard up to 180 meters away. It has two different alert patterns that alternate and repeat. It can ring for hours depending on its battery life.
Diving Capabilities
As part of the initiative for a new multisport watch, the Apple Watch Ultra will also accommodate divers with a new depth app, Depth. This app will help see depth, time underwater, and max depth. It will work as an effective dive computer to plan and share dive routes, providing safety stop guidance. The availability of this feature has not yet been announced but will be coming soon.
Performance and Software
The Apple Watch Ultra will run with the latest watchOS 9. This new software update comes with many new watch faces built to accommodate the larger display. The Wayfinder watch face is designed for the Apple Watch Ultra, placing up to eight configurations that include tracking improvements for features like health and fitness.
GPS
This Apple Watch will also come with dual-frequency GPS and new positioning algorithms to improve location tracking, maintaining position while surrounded by tall structures or mountains. The Apple Watch Ultra has the most precise and accurate GPS yet in the lineup, which is excellent for runners, hikers, and any other sports activities. This watch also includes a redesigned version of the Compass app, allowing users to set waypoints and orient themselves in relation to those locations. As part of the GPS upgrade, the Backtrack feature uses that data to automatically create a path of where the user has been, even off the grid. It helps retrace their steps, returning them from where they came or getting them back on route.
Sound Quality
The Apple Watch Ultra comes with three built-in microphones to help improve the sound quality of voice calls. A new algorithm within the software also captures the voice while simultaneously reducing the ambient background sound, providing more clarity when performing activities like walking outside. The wind-reduction and machine learning that takes place on-device provides clearer audio for calls.
Battery Life
As part of the size of the Apple Watch Ultra is to accommodate a bigger battery, it can last up to 36 hours or up to 60 hours on the low-power setting, available in Fall 2022. With a fast-charging battery, it can also charge from 0% to 80% in 45 minutes.
Colors
The Apple Watch Ultra comes in natural Titanium, built to withstand chilly mountaintops or searing desert heat. There will be different straps and styles that are designed specifically for the Ultra: Alpine Loop, Trail Loop, Ocean Band, and other performance bands from Nike and Hermes.
The new Alpine Loop will have two integrated layers made by the waving process, eliminating the need for stitching. The Ocean Band is designed for extreme water sports and recreational diving, complete with a titanium buckle.
Specifications for the Apple Watch Ultra
The Apple Watch Ultra comes with the Apple S8 processor with a dual-core CPU, PowerVR GPU, and an internal memory of 32GB. Due to its size, 49mm Titanium case, and thicker chassis, the Apple Watch Ultra is heavier than the standard Apple Watch weighing 61.3g versus 51.5g for the 45mm size.
Apple Watch Ultra vs Apple Watch Series 8
Compared to the Apple Watch Series 8, the Apple Watch Ultra is more rugged, larger, and designed for more extreme environments and sports.
The Apple Watch Ultra measures 49mm, while the larger Series 8 measures 45mm. Made from Titanium, the Apple Watch Ultra is more tactile with an updated Digital Crown that can be used wearing gloves and a customizable Action button. The Ultra also has a flat display that is designed to help protect the screen and make it more crack resistant. Because of its larger screen size, this could be a deterrent for those who may have smaller wrists and are not used to a large watch.
Both models run on the same S8 processor and have many of the same sensors. The Ultra does have the built-in siren, as well as a Depth Gauge that the Series 8 does not offer. It also has dual speakers and a three-mic array versus the Series 8 single speaker and microphone. In order to perform many of these capabilities, the Ultra does have longer battery life at 36 hours while the Series 8 sits at an 18-hour battery life.
While both models have a lot of the same software functions connected to the watchOS 9 updates, the Ultra has a few extra features over the Series 8: the siren, Night Mode, programmable Action button, and dive computer.
How Much Does the Apple Watch Ultra Cost
The Apple Watch Ultra comes in the 49mm size and is only available with GPS + Cellular connectivity. It became available for pre-order on September 7 of 2022 and available for instant purchase from September 23 of 2022. The single Apple Watch Ultra model will cost $799 and the cost may vary depending on the band style.
Upgrade to the Apple Watch Ultra
If you are looking to purchase the new Apple Watch Ultra, Rossellimac is a verified Apple seller with the Apple Watch Ultra now in stock. With all the new capabilities included in the new Apple Watch lineup, you can upgrade and experience the newest smartwatch technology that Apple has to offer. Even with the watchOS 9 updates, there are still some features that are only available with the Apple Watch Ultra that will improve the experience if:
- You are an outdoors enthusiast who needs specialized support for your activities.
- You use multisport smartwatches from brands like Garmin and Suunto.
- You want more technology and capabilities than your current sports watch.
- You want a bigger and brighter screen.
Shop our stock today: Apple Watch Ultra!