Introducing Apple Watch Ultra

Tough new watch for extreme sports and activities

AS ANTICIPATED, APPLE has introduced an all–new rugged watch, “built for endurance, exploration, and adventure.” Apple Watch Ultra, $799, is a new design with a big 49mm case made of aerospace–grade titanium, which rises to a protective lip around the flat sapphire crystal face. The Retina display has a brightness of up to 2,000 nits, twice the brightness of any previous Apple Watch display, making it more readable outdoors.

A new, customizable Action button offers instant access to a wide range of features. It’s high–contrast orange and large, making it easy to use even with gloved fingers. The Digital Crown is also redesigned for the same reason.

Apple Watch Ultra also brings three new bands — the lightweight woven Trail Loop, seamless high–strength Alpine Loop, and flexible molded Ocean Band — offering unique design features that provide a secure and comfortable fit for different activities.

The Ultra has the best battery life of any Apple Watch, up to 36 hours in normal use. A new low–power setting, available this Fall, can extend this to up to 60 hours. To deliver clear audio for calls in all conditions, there are three built–in mics, an adaptive beamforming algorithm to focus on the voice while reducing ambient noise, and advanced wind noise reduction algorithms.

The Wayfinder watch face, designed for the larger Ultra display, includes a compass built into the dial and space for up to eight complications. Turning the Digital Crown turns the Wayfinder face red for better visibility in the dark.

For the first time in an Apple Watch, the precision dual–frequency GPS uses both L1 and the latest frequency, L5, plus new positioning algorithms. This delivers the most accurate GPS of any Apple Watch to date, providing more precise distance, pace, and route data.

The redesigned Compass app in watchOS 9 can display more in–depth information including elevation and incline. Pressing the Action button or tapping the Compass Waypoint icon drops an editable waypoint, and the complication updates in real time to show the direction and approximate distance to the waypoint. A Backtrack feature uses GPS data to track where you have been, helping you retrace your steps if needed. For emergencies, there’s a built–in 86–decibel siren.

Apple Watch Ultra can operate in extremes from –4°F to 131°F (–20°C to 55°C) and is certified to the relevant aspects of MIL–STD-810H, used for military equipment and popular among rugged equipment manufacturers. It is certified to WR100 (water resistant to 100 meters, although Apple says it should not be used for diving below 40 meters) and EN 13319, an international standard for dive accessories.

Utilizing a new depth gauge, Apple Watch Ultra features a Depth app that displays time, current depth, water temperature, duration underwater, and more. A new Oceanic+ app, developed with recreational diving equipment specialist Huish Outdoors and available later this Fall, turns the Ultra into a capable dive computer, with easy–to– read dive metrics, visual and haptic alerts, ascent rate, and more.

Apple Watch Ultra also has all of the connectivity, activity, and health features of Apple Watch Series 8, including the temperature monitoring functions and Crash Detection.