Apple today unveiled the much anticipated Apple Watch Ultra smartwatch. The watch has been in the rumor mill for over a year and was rumored to arrive in 2021. The year is 2022, and we finally have the first official sight of the new rounded Apple Watch Ultra, which features a larger display and chassis, a large bulge, curved sides, a more rugged design, and a lot of additional functionality to ensure you keep up with your fitness and never get lost.

At the Apple Event, the company also unveiled the brand new iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max flagship devices. The company also introduced the updated Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE, and the AirPods Pro 2 wireless earbuds.

Price & Availability

The new Apple Watch Ultra smartwatch is going to be available for pre-orders from today (September 7), and it will become available from September 23. Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Ultra in a single 49mm size. The Apple Watch Ultra is only available with GPS + Cellular connectivity, and there is no Bluetooth-only model. One model to rule them all.

Colors

The Apple Watch Ultra will be available in a single color, natural Titanium. Apple will also sell you a wide selection of different straps and styles, including the Alpine Loop, Trail Loop, Ocean Band, and various other brands from Nike and Hermes.

The new Alpine Loop band will feature two integrated layers made from one continuous waving process that eliminates the need for stitching. Apple says that the “top loops, interspersed with high-strength yarn, provide adjustability and a secure attachment for the titanium G-hook fastener.” The Ocean Band is designed for extreme water sports and recreational diving with a titanium buckle.

Technical Specifications

Design

The Apple Watch Ultra has a similar design to the Apple Watch Series 8 smartwatch, but it has a bulging, flat display. It’s not quite what we expected, based on leaked renders seen in the past year, and it still looks undoubtedly like an Apple Watch. The new design language makes it stand out among the current lineup of smartwatches, including the Apple Watch Series 8, the new Apple Watch SE 2nd Generation, and the new Apple Watch Ultra.

Alongside the new design, Apple also brought more durability, and a tougher look. The new watch is crafted with high attention to detail, and it’s made out of Titanium to withstand even more environments. The Watch Ultra is made out of a 49mm titanium case and can withstand water up to 100m.

It’s tested to Military-grade MIL-STD 810H, which is a first on an Apple Watch, and it still features the IP6X dust resistance, and WR100, as well as the internationally recognized EN13319 certificates. The latter certification is an internationally recognized standard for dive accessories, including depth gauges that dives rely on worldwide. The new Apple Watch Ultra is ideal for ocean and water sports enthusiasts.

The Watch Ultra also adds an additional customizable action button on the left side. The button has an accented color to make it stand out, and the power button and the digital crown can still be found on the right side. The customizable button can be used to open applications, and other actions.

Display

The new Apple Watch Ultra features a new flat, sapphire crystal protection on the display. The case rises up to surround all edges of the watch, providing a seamless and flat sapphire front crystal screen, protecting the new Retina display. While Apple didn’t reveal the display size of the Apple Watch, this is the largest smartwatch in the entire lineup to this date. The new Retina display can go as bright as 2,000 nits, which Apple claims is at least two times brighter than its previous generation of smartwatches.

Health features

With every new generation of Apple Watch, the company puts more emphasis on health tracking and other relevant features to improve its own Fitness+ service. The new watch focuses on the precision with the dual-frequency GPS that integrates both L1 and the L5 frequencies and new positioning algorithms to improve location tracking. Apple claims that this is the most precise and accurate GPS yet in the Apple Watch lineup, and it’s excellent for runners, hikes, and just about any sports activities.

The watch also has the usual sensors for heart rate monitoring, detecting falls and crashes, measuring blood oxygen, ECG, and it also has temperature sensing. There’s also a more advanced Cycle tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates.

Performance and Software

The Apple Watch Ultra will run the latest watchOS 9 operating system. The new software comes with several new watch faces, health and fitness tracking improvements, and more. The new system is also able to track sleep better with an improved algorithm, and the new Medicine experience lets users manage a list of their medicines and set up schedules and reminders.

There are a lot of changes in the new watchOS 9 update, and we have covered them in full detail in our dedicated post.

Alongside the usual watchOS 9 changes, the new watch will benefit from new watch faces, specifically designed to accommodate the larger display. There is a new Wayfinder watch face designed for the Apple Watch Ultra, and it allows users to place up to eight complications; and it also has a compass built- into the dial.

The watch also features three built-in microphones, which should significantly improve the sound quality of voice calls in any environment. Apple also claims that it uses a new algorithm to capture the voice while reducing the ambient background sound, providing more clarity when talking outside. There’s also a wind noise-reduction algorithm and machine learning that takes place on-device to provide clearer audio for calls.

Battery

Apple doesn’t share the memory and battery cell sizes, but the company claimed that the Apple Watch Ultra could last for up to 36 hours on a single charge, and up to 60 hours using the new low-power setting. The watch also comes with fast charging, although Apple didn’t share how long it would take to go from flat to 80% or 100%.