Exact same boat. Love my Ultra 1. Was planning to upgrade, definitely will hold off another year. Testament to how nice of a job Apple did with it.
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Apple Watch Ultra 3 Announced With Largest Ever Display, 5G, Satellite Connectivity, and More
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5G has the potential to offer better battery life and more coverage than with LTE. Since Apple doesn't seem to share the specifics any longer, it's hard to say. I know that the older Apple Watches were all missing cellular band 71, which is the one that T Mobile uses for their longer distance coverage, and IF the 11/Ultra 3 have Band 71, customers in border areas for T Mobile coverage should see much better reception. I'm assuming the same thing holds for AT&T/ Verizon, but I don't follow their bands, so don't know for sure.
Also, depending on the wireless chip specs, you could see better battery life when using it on cellular, but again no details were provided, so hard to say.
Last thing to note is that 5G modems should offer longer term usage, for those that keep their watches for a long time. Currently LTE is scheduled to be deprecated by 2030, so you'll only have 5G coverage at that time. Timelines can change, and 5 years is a long time for a watch, so it's unlikely that many people buying a 5G watch today will still be using it in 2030, but as LTE winds down, and more spectrum is shifted to 5G, those watches will work better. Doesn't mean much now, but they have to come at some point.
Apple today announced Apple Watch Ultra 3, featuring satellite connectivity, 5G cellular, and the largest ever display. The new watch starts at $799 and can be pre-ordered today, with shipping beginning Friday, September 19.
The display is the largest ever on an Apple Watch. Apple used LTPO3 technology and wide-angle OLEDs to make the borders 24 percent thinner while keeping the same case size. The screen now updates once per second in always-on mode instead of once per minute, so you can see the seconds hand tick without lifting your wrist. Over 20 watch faces support the faster refresh rate, including Stopwatch and Timer.
Battery life has been improved significantly. You now get up to 42 hours of normal use and up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode. Meanwhile, for continuous GPS workouts, Low Power Mode now lasts 20 hours with full heart rate monitoring, and 15 minutes of charging provides 12 hours of battery life.
Otherwise, the biggest new feature is satellite connectivity. Users can text emergency services, message contacts, and share their location when they don't have cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. If the watch detects a car crash or hard fall while you're unconscious and off the grid, it automatically contacts emergency services.
You can also send regular texts, emoji, and Tapbacks to anyone you've messaged in the past 30 days, even without cell service. Apple says it had to redesign the radio and antenna to make this work – the antenna now has double the signal strength to reach satellites 800 miles overhead moving at 15,000 mph.
Find My via satellite lets you send your location every 15 minutes to contacts you've previously added to Find My. All satellite features are free for two years with Apple Watch Ultra 3. Emergency SOS works without a cellular plan, while messaging and location sharing require an active cellular subscription.
A new Waypoint watch face provides live compass navigation and quick access to satellite communications. And Night Mode helps preserve night vision during outdoor adventures.
The 5G cellular connection downloads music, podcasts, and apps faster than before, according to Apple. The company added an algorithm that uses both antennas simultaneously when signal strength is weak.
A new health feature detects signs of chronic high blood pressure by monitoring how blood vessels respond to heartbeats over 30-day periods. The algorithm was developed using data from over 100,000 participants and validated in a clinical study of 2,000 people. Apple says this could identify over one million people with undiagnosed hypertension in the first year. The feature requires FDA clearance but should be available in over 150 countries this month.
Sleep tracking gets a quality score that considers duration, bedtime consistency, how often you wake up, and time in each sleep stage. The scoring follows recommendations from sleep medicine organizations and was developed using 5 million nights of sleep data from Apple's Heart and Movement Study.
Elsewhere, Workout Buddy uses Apple Intelligence to provide spoken motivation during exercise based on your heart rate, pace, distance, and workout history. It works with Bluetooth headphones and requires an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone nearby. The feature is available in English for popular workout types.
The Workout app also got a redesign making it easier to customize sessions with Workout Views, custom workouts, Pacer, and Race Route. You can now create workouts in the Fitness app on iPhone and access them on Apple Watch. Music and podcasts can also be set to automatically play when starting specific workout types.
Apple Watch Ultra 3 includes the most accurate GPS in a sports watch and maintains water resistance to 100 meters. As before, the titanium case comes in natural or black finishes.
New band options include a Trail Loop with reflective yarn along the edges, plus new colors for the Ocean Band and Alpine Loop. The Hermès collection adds two new En Mer colors and a Scub'H Diving band in rubber with a titanium buckle.
Customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UAE, the UK, the U.S., and more than 50 other countries and regions can pre-order Apple Watch Ultra 3 today, with availability in stores beginning Friday, September 19.
Article Link: Apple Watch Ultra 3 Announced With Largest Ever Display, 5G, Satellite Connectivity, and More
CNBC seemed to not notice the new Satellite Connectivity!
Two CNBC articles failed to mention that this is a new feature of Apple Watch Ultra.
Intentional omission?
Yah but the watch is attached to your wrist! If you need Satellite location emergency type stuff, you’ll have the watch for sure. The iPhone might have fallen into a lake!
It’s incredible to have satellite communication from such a small device!
This is a major tech device milestone I’d say.
insightful. I didn’t know lte is winding down. If LTE is gone in 2030, then I’ll definitely need to upgrade my Ultra 1 at that point.
I was under the impression that LTE is less battery hungry than 5G, but I’m possibly wrong on that.
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If I'm trading in my Ultra 1 for the Ultra 3, is it ok to update my Ultra 1 to the public beta today?
Not sure if that would break any Ts & Cs or anything?
Not sure if that would break any Ts & Cs or anything?
Lol I was being a bit tongue in cheek, but I actually do this.
I use my Ultra as like my everyday timepiece and I have one of the more cloth type material bands (I forget what it’s called.) To me, I had gotten it because of the larger screen and it had felt more premium.
Then I have a S10 that I actually use for workouts, like running, lifting, cycling, etc, that type of stuff. Previously I was using a S4.
I have one of the active bands and it does have tendency to get a bit sweaty. It lacks some of the sensors the Ultra does, but I think the only thing I miss out on is the more accurate GPS but I don’t really absolutely need to see my run paths down to the foot.
So might be a bit weird, but I use it inversely to how Apple advertises their watches, not because the S10 does anything better but because it’s lighter I feel like it’s something I don’t mind getting dirty and not having a cloth band makes it easier to clean.
No idea, but why not wait until Monday when the general release version comes out?
Upgraded a few years back from AW4 to AWU1. Best upgrade since AW2-> AW4. Before ultra, I never wore the watch for sleep, instead put it on the charger. But this changed with ultra, and now I love the sleep tracking. It was a bit counter-intuitive thus surprising, but the ultra does not feel like a brick despite (or because?) its bigger size. YMMV.
In general that was true when 5G first launched, but over time it is more muddled. There is a lower powered version of 5G (RedCap) that doesn't reach the really high speeds of full 5G, but maxes out somewhere between 80-150 Mbps. It's specifically designed for wearables & IoT devices. That is much more energy efficient than the full 5G chips.
And also, when 5G first launched, it used 5G for data, but still LTE for phone, so it was much less efficient for devices. Over time, carriers have been converting their networks to Stand Alone 5G, and once that is done, 5G loses the penalty that it started with.
Should I upgrade my Watch 4, which can't even tell me how the battery health is doing?
- Tracking hikes and stuff nice. Watch 4 was always struggling on all-day action
- Satellite SOS nice, in case I'm too f*cked to use the 16 Pro Max
- Sleep features were useless so far, andthe the watch was annoying -- waking up due to the high brightness at night
- More Vital Sensors nice
So Watch 4 almost lasted 7 years? Ultra 3 would outlast mankind, AI Takeover, Neuralink .. ?
- Tracking hikes and stuff nice. Watch 4 was always struggling on all-day action
- Satellite SOS nice, in case I'm too f*cked to use the 16 Pro Max
- Sleep features were useless so far, andthe the watch was annoying -- waking up due to the high brightness at night
- More Vital Sensors nice
So Watch 4 almost lasted 7 years? Ultra 3 would outlast mankind, AI Takeover, Neuralink .. ?
I use my Ultra 2 as my everyday all day long all night long timepiece. I exercise in it - swapping out a nike band (plastic) for the cloth type band that I wear everyday. After a run I'll run it under the sink and swap bands back to the cloth band for daily use. Every few times I charge, I run my fingernail along the underside sensor to keep anything from building up there.
Watch looks spotless (minus some very slight nicks when I slammed it into metal/concrete)
The increased reporting I get on my running workouts with Ultra 2 is huge.
It's not something that is always on - you have to turn it on to use it.
Wireless "radiation" - a thought... stepping outside into sunlight hits you with 10^6–10^9 times (LLM estimated) the power intensity of damaging DNA breaking UV radiation.
Don't get me started on electrical power lines and what's in your house. Fun video to watch if you're interested on the topic:
Oh that's really interesting. What this sounds like is the moniker, 5G, represents variations of the technology.
I forget what name it was now but maybe it was 3G when it first came out, something similar happened where it may or may not be full 3G depending on, well, various factors.
My first experience using 5G is with my iPhone 12 Pro and I believe there is a setting there where when there is only cell data signal, that you can opt for it to ONLY use LTE and not 5G in order to save battery life. From day 1, the iPhone 12 Pro battery life is not good when you touring a new country and often whipping out the phone to take pictures. Battery life quickly depletes. I still use the iPhone 12 Pro. When it comes time for a new battery, I'm likely to upgrade rather than buy a new Apple-approved battery for it.
Wow, that your Watch 4 has lasted this long is quite something.
My first Apple Watch was the Series 4. I forget how many years I had it, but when the Apple Ultra came out, I upgraded and I have loved using the Ultra. The only thing I did not like about the Series 4 (or any of the other Series) is the lack of an Action button which I use to mark running laps and intervals.
Cause that's how Tim Apple does it . .
iPhone 2-9, X, . . . . are we to 18
I you name it xxx Ultra, Pro, Max
Well, after Garmin's recent pricing "adjustment" where they kill the pause feature . . . .I'm looking for a replacement.
In a true emergency, good enough will do. Especially if I'm accidentally separated from my phone
Been waiting for U3 to upgrade from my 7.
2 birds and all, maybe?
Yeah, I’m going to be watching for some real world tests of the new Ultra’s satellite capabilities, but unless they really missed the mark, I’m upgrading from my U1. I have an InReach Mini 2 but there are a few issues; the subscription seems to keep getting more expensive, the software the goes with it is the worst kind of garbage, and my wife has commandeered it anyway.
The battery capacity of the Apple Watch Ultra is 568 mAh. With some math and conversion, that works out to 1.8 kilocalories (what most people just call calories).
So all of the energy that the entire watch battery contains is about the same amount as the energy of a Tic Tac.
Given that the antenna uses only a small fraction of that very small amount of energy, and only when actively communicating with a satellite, I think you'll be fine.
Your Fenix 8 also takes like 3 hours to charge whereas an Apple Watch Ultra will charge from 30% to 80% in like 30 mins while you shower and will last another day or two.