Apple‘s first high-end sports watch impresses with deep water resistance, long battery life, and navigation features tailored for outdoor athletes.
The Apple Watch Ultra, released in September 2022, stands out as Apple‘s most rugged and adventure-ready smartwatch yet. Built specifically for extreme sports enthusiasts, the Ultra introduces several new hardware and software capabilities not found on the standard Apple Watch.
Let‘s dive into the top 10 features that define the Apple Watch Ultra experience:
1. Massive, Bright Display
The Ultra sports a 49mm screen with a resolution of 410 x 502 pixels. At nearly an inch and a half, it‘s the largest display ever on an Apple Watch. And with a peak brightness of 2000 nits, it‘s twice as bright as the Apple Watch Series 8 screen. This helps visibility in sunny conditions.
The 49mm Ultra display has an impressive 2000 nit maximum brightness. (Image: Apple)
2. Titanium Casing for Lightweight Durability
Apple constructed the Ultra case out of lightweight titanium. As an aerospace-grade metal, titanium offers enhanced corrosion resistance compared to aluminum or stainless steel, while keeping weight low – critical for comfort during long workouts. The material also lends itself well to the Ultra‘s more angular, industrial design.
3. Programmable Action Button
Unique to the Ultra, a large orange Action button along the left side provides quick access to designated apps or features. You can even customize single, double, or long presses of the button to shortcuts like launching a workout, alerts, stopwatch, waypoints, and more.
The programmable Action button offers easy shortcut access, especially with gloves on. (Image: Apple)
4. Wayfinder – A Watch Face Built for Exploration
Wayfinder is a brand new watch face exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra. It focuses on providing at-a-glance access to compass directions, incline/elevation, latitude and longitude, sunset/sunrise times, and more. You can also switch between three different views: analog/digital compass, technical data, and navigation aids like Backtrack and Waypoints.
5. Water Resistance Down to 100 Meters Depth
While past Apple Watches have basic water resistance, the Ultra targets aquatic and watersports enthusiasts with a professional-grade WR100 rating. That signifies water resistance down to 100 meters (330 feet). A Depth app even shows current depth underwater and max depth reached.
The Ultra pairs depth gauges and WR100 rating for diving adventures. (Image: Apple)
6. More Precise GPS Tracking
The Apple Watch Ultra introduces support for dual-frequency GPS (L1 and L5). This allows for more accurate positioning when around urban tall buildings and dense foliage. You can actually see signal strength represented by a color-coded arrow icon. The dual-band setup also enables new Backtrack and Waypoint marking features…
7. Backtrack and Waypoints in Compass App
Taking navigation and marking favorite locations to the next level, the redesigned Compass app on Ultra has Backtrack and customizable Waypoints. Backtrack automatically tracks the path you take using GPS, creating "breadcrumb" markers so you can retrace your steps. Waypoints are manual pins you can drop to mark points of interest, trails, camp sites, etc.
Waypoints and Backtrack allow easier pathfinding and navigation in remote locations. (Image: Apple)
8. Enhanced Microphones for Better Call Clarity
Don‘t let blustery winds ruin your outdoor calls. The Apple Watch Ultra adds advanced beamforming microphones and noise reduction to improve voice pickup in windy environments. The triple mic array also enables superior Siri voice interactions.
9. Emergency Siren to Signal for Help
In an emergency situation, you can sound a 86 decibel siren from the Ultra that projects sound in a 600 foot radius. It sends out a clear visual distress signal as well. Activate it via the Action button, Siren app, or holding the side button.
10. Greatly Extended Battery Life
Battery life sits at the top of the wishlist for many Apple Watch owners. The Ultra answers decisively with 36 hours of regular use…or 60 hours when using new Low Power settings. Even without Low Power, that‘s nearly double the battery runtimes of the Series 8. Extended exercise times, long hikes far from power sources, and multi-day excursions are now no issue for the Ultra.
All-day battery life keeps the Ultra tracking on long outdoor expeditions. (Image: Apple)
Matching the Apple Watch Series 8‘s Other Features
Besides the above differentiators tailored for athletes and adventurers, the Apple Watch Ultra matches the Apple Watch Series 8 in other areas like:
- S8 processor for responsiveness, speed
- 32GB storage for music, videos, photos
- ECG, blood oxygen sensors
- Cycle/women‘s health tracking
- Crash detection while driving/biking
- watchOS 9 software update
So you still get best-in-class health monitoring, safety features, syncing with iPhone, and much more. But the Ultra shifts the focus to reinforcement for active lifestyles.
Who Should Buy the Apple Watch Ultra?
If you regularly participate in outdoor endurance events, watersports, intense and extended workouts, the Apple Watch Ultra provides unmatched durability, battery life, GPS accuracy, and adventure-centric features.
Casual smartwatch users who don‘t need advanced fitness tracking can likely pass on the Ultra‘s premium pricing. But for extreme athletes, the Ultra delivers a rugged, highly capable training partner ready for your next expedition.
Alpine, Ocean, and Trail loop bands ship with the Ultra for land and sea activities.
In Conclusion
With sophisicated navigation aids, water resistance to 330 foot depths, and up to 60 hours runtime per charge, the Apple Watch Ultra empowers adventure seekers like never before. Time will tell how it holds up for backcountry explorers. But Apple decisively targeted core weaknesses around battery and ruggedness with the Ultra model.
It may be overkill if you just need basic fitness tracking and app notifications. However, early signs point to the Ultra earning a top spot among high-intensity training watches, especially for those already bought into the Apple device ecosystem. Overland athletes, triathletes, surfers and divers should give it special consideration.
For more Apple Watch comparisons and recommendation lists see:
Apple Watch Ultra vs Garmin
Apple Watch vs Fitbit Versa 4
Featured Image: ©Hadrian/Shutterstock.com
