The Apple Watch Ultra Gets a New Color (But Not Much Else)
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Apple’s watch lineup was one of the bigger surprises during yesterday’s Glowtime event, not so much for what Apple introduced, but more for what it didn’t.
The Apple Watch Series 10 was everything we expected from the latest reports, but not much more. The more ambitious rumors of a big tenth-anniversary redesign didn’t come to fruition; instead, we got the more modest evolution into a thinner and lighter wearable with a noticeably larger screen.
Still, those are exciting changes, and we think it’s good news that Apple has retained its classic band attachment system instead of going with the magnetic system it was reportedly working on last year.
However, the bigger surprise was that the Apple Watch Series 10 was the only new smartwatch the company had to show off this year. It’s the first time that’s happened since the 2021 Apple Watch Series 7, which, perhaps not coincidentally, was the last time Apple made a significant design change to the mainstream wearable, increasing the screen size from the Series 6 that had come before and introducing faster charging — both marquee changes for this year’s Series 10.
In 2020, Apple introduced the first Apple Watch SE alongside the Apple Watch Series 6. Then, the premium and extreme Apple Watch Ultra and a second-generation Apple Watch SE came alongside the Series 8 in 2022. Last year, Apple introduced a new Apple Watch Ultra 2 at the same time as the Series 9, marking what seemed like the beginning of a trend of two new models each year.
Except, it wasn’t. This year, the rumored “Apple Watch Ultra 3” never materialized. To be fair, we hadn’t heard much about a new Ultra. Those analysts and leakers who had anything at all to say about it predicted only minor upgrades. However, it turns out that Apple didn’t even do that.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman called it only hours before the event with an eleventh-hour tweet that only a new color was coming. He was less confident about the fate of the Apple Watch SE but suggested it could also be delayed.
It turns out he was right on the money, as that’s precisely what Apple did. When it began showing off the Apple Watch Ultra during yesterday’s Glowtime event, some of us were still expecting it would be the third-generation Apple Watch Ultra until Apple’s Stan Ng said the “Apple Watch Ultra 2 is now available in a gorgeous Satin Black.”
While the Satin Black certainly looks great — even more than last year’s rumored “Dark Titanium” — it’s the only thing different about this year’s Apple Watch Ultra 2. When Apple said that pre-orders for that model were opening today, it’s the colorway that won’t be arriving until September 20th. Folks content with the natural titanium look can still buy the same Apple Watch Ultra 2 that’s been around since last year.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Upgrades
That doesn’t mean the Apple Watch Ultra 2 isn’t getting new features; however, these will come in software. As expected, watchOS 11 will add a bunch of new stuff to every compatible Apple Watch model — all the way back to the Series 6 — but the most significant new health feature of the Apple Watch Series 10 is also coming to both of last year’s models.
The Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Apple Watch Series 10 will all support Sleep Apnea Detection. Presumably, the S9 chip in those older models, which was a substantial upgrade from the S8 that came before, has enough power to deliver on this feature. It’s also likely that Apple was working on sleep apnea for the Series 9, which means that model could have had the hardware prepped for it, but the software algorithms weren’t up to snuff.
That wouldn’t be surprising since, as Apple Health VP Dr. Sumbal Desai explained, sleep apnea detection is powered by a machine learning detection algorithm that had to be trained using extensive clinical test data from Apple’s health studies and validated in the largest-ever clinical study for sleep apnea technology. That kind of research takes time, and even now, the feature is still waiting for regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and various other global health authorities.
The other significant feature coming to the Apple Watch Series 10 is one that Apple Watch Ultra 2 users won’t miss out on because they already have it. As a dive-certified wearable, the Apple Watch Ultra has had a depth gauge from the very beginning. Apple is adding this to the Series 10 this year to support users who enjoy shallower-water activities like snorkeling, and Huish Outdoors will be bringing its Oceanic+ app to the Apple Watch Series 10 for the same purpose.
Neither appears to be any different from the Depth and Oceanic+ apps that Apple Watch Ultra users can already enjoy. Likewise, the new Tides app that Apple spoke about yesterday is part of watchOS 11 and not specific to the Series 10.
The only things Apple Watch Ultra 2 users will miss out on is the improved S10 chip in the Series 10 with the new audio playback and voice isolation features powered by that chip, plus faster charging. We’ll presumably see an Apple Watch Ultra 3 roll those in next year, but we’ll have to wait for some real-world reviews to see how much of a difference the S10 chip actually makes in day-to-day use.
