Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

[thefredelement]

I know Garmin doesn't have the connectivity / apps AW does but I prefer it, there's more data, it's easier to get to and the insights are meaningful. Not to mention the battery on my Epix pro gen 2 is insane, I don't use the touch screen and it lasts 2 - 3 weeks.

 

[zobby]

When it was rumoured that Apple were planning on adding blood pressure monitoring earlier in the year I thought with their current track record there was no way this would get implemented in anything other than 2 or three years at the very earliest. Turns out I’m probably right - easy prediction with Apple/ innovation at the moment though (sadly).

 

[Eric_WVGG]

can we pleeeeease have the cool red screen and normal apple watches

so weird that the only good display comes on the only ugly watch

 

[nikon1]

As much as I want the Ultra Series 3 (after always buying the largest SS model) no working Blood Oxygen software is a dead stop! I will not pay for the hardware technology that’s sidelined by a software issue.

I see this much like the Tesla owners who pay a HUGE premium for the fully autonomous hardware with the “promise” of the required software at … some point in the future … (maybe?)

 

[Marx55]

This would be awesome: Apple should make Watch Ultra truly standalone, without any dependency, not requiring other device to setup and use. No, I do not want an iPhone; even for free! Free your mind and your hands! Allowing to install any application including web browsers like Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Edge, etc. Add a camera to read QR codes, etc; best if it is telescopic rotating retractable camera in the crown neck (protecting from dust and sweat, besides privacy). Then I am sold, even for 1,000 USD or more.

 

[JPack]

Until the legal dispute is over, it’s not really up to them.

The recent Samsung watches infamously have terrible accuracy for health features. So if that’s important to you, I’d advise you to really research any that you plan on buying before getting it.

It's entirely up to Apple. Tim Cook simply isn't willing to pay Masimo and is willing to wait until the patents expire.

There's no magical way out of this either. The Masimo patent is for light-based SpO2 measurements.

 

[jole]

I got an Apple Watch recently and before buying it I asked some athlete friends of mine & watched a ton of videos and reviews, and what most people have been missing from the AW that keeps them using a competitor is

1. battery life
2. Less reliance on the touch screen while in a workout
2. A better Health app with actual insights into your data, like Whoop does (which is a terrible product btw but the app is more useful).
3. Better support for offline maps and routes.

So mostly software stuff really. If Apple can overcome those things, I know a lot of people would switch from Garmin and others.

Apple, could you hire him as product manager?

(Your priorities are spot on)

 

[Ozid]

I wouldn't be mad if the Ultra 4 had a huge upgrade and they just keep pumping out incremental upgrades until your watch is old feeling, and then its time to upgrade. Love that cycle. I'd love to get 5 years out of my watch without FOMO.

I'm feeling really good about my year 1 Ultra 2 with blood oxygen enabled rn lol

 

[jdawgnoonan]

All this tells me is that there is nothing rumored to come that will make this a true competitor to my Garmin Epix 2 Pro.

 

[coolkid93]

if this is gonna be like a Series 10 which this article sounds I’ll just buy a series 10 for half the price

 

[L23]

Looking forward to new Alpine and Ocean bands colors.

 

[QCassidy352]

I got an Apple Watch recently and before buying it I asked some athlete friends of mine & watched a ton of videos and reviews, and what most people have been missing from the AW that keeps them using a competitor is

1. battery life
2. Less reliance on the touch screen while in a workout
2. A better Health app with actual insights into your data, like Whoop does (which is a terrible product btw but the app is more useful).
3. Better support for offline maps and routes.

So mostly software stuff really. If Apple can overcome those things, I know a lot of people would switch from Garmin and others.

Apple Watch is a general purpose smartwatch that works “well enough” for sports and fitness tracking for most people. Garmins are pure sports watches that work “well enough” for smartwatch functions. Neither product aspires to be the other, and I’m not sure why people constantly ask for it.

Separately, I’m genuinely confused by the number of people who say blood ox is a must have feature. I have it on my S7 and neither use it nor see a use for it.

 

[alphaswift]

'Significant' upgrade is not what you described. Stepping over a chipped concrete step is probably the roughest walk I take for months at a time. Satellite connectivity is not required.

 

[Jaisah]

So nothing worthwhile then? I had heard rumours that the new S11 SIP would have a new ultra low power co-processor to handle health monitoring tasks, offloading this from the CPU so that the CPU can be in a dormant state more often and therefore extend battery life. This is all I really want, longer battery life. And not like 2 extra hours. I want 5 days of normal use, 7 days on low power mode and I want to be able to go for a hike for 3 days, with 5-6 hours of GPS tracking per day and still get home at the end of the 3rd day with 10%+ battery left. This is an Ultra Sports watch, it should be able to last 3 days of hiking. Satellite is cool and might save your life but if your watch is flat then it's useless.

 

[Jaisah]

I got an Apple Watch recently and before buying it I asked some athlete friends of mine & watched a ton of videos and reviews, and what most people have been missing from the AW that keeps them using a competitor is

1. battery life
2. Less reliance on the touch screen while in a workout
2. A better Health app with actual insights into your data, like Whoop does (which is a terrible product btw but the app is more useful).
3. Better support for offline maps and routes.

So mostly software stuff really. If Apple can overcome those things, I know a lot of people would switch from Garmin and others.

2 of your requests are software, not hardware. If you want software changes then join the beta software program and send feedback on the Feedback app....

 

[Dr McKay]

Make it thinner and bring back blood ox in the US

I wouldn’t put too much faith in it if they do, my Ultra 2 routinely tells me my blood oxygen level is around 94%, while the finger monitor in the first aid kit at work will report 99%

 

[Jaisah]

'Significant' upgrade is not what you described. Stepping over a chipped concrete step is probably the roughest walk I take for months at a time. Satellite connectivity is not required.

You probably don't need an Ultra if you don't do any activities of note. I mountain bike, hike and snowboard in the South Island of New Zealand. All of these activities could put me in situations where I am stuck/injured and don't have cell coverage. So for me Satellite is actually a great feature. The thing that bothers me about it though is the fact that the battery life is poor so if my watch is flat, the satellite function is useless.

 

[Jaisah]

I wouldn’t put too much faith in it if they do, my Ultra 2 routinely tells me my blood oxygen level is around 94%, while the finger monitor in the first aid kit at work will report 99%

I've seen other, scientific tests, that say that the Blood Oxygen sensor is pretty accurate, at least within 1-2% which is good enough. All we really want to know is are we in the normal zone i.e. >95% or are we having a medical emergency i.e. <90%. My work colleague had a lung issue a while back and he toughed it out for a while and then finally went to the medical centre and they checked his blood ox and it was like 80%. They took him to the hospital. After that he bought an Apple Watch so now if he has any issues he can quickly check on his watch and get a ball-park reading. Who cares if it's off by 1-2%, it's ball-park.

 

[Sergio The One]

Apple Watch is a general purpose smartwatch that works “well enough” for sports and fitness tracking for most people. Garmins are pure sports watches that work “well enough” for smartwatch functions. Neither product aspires to be the other, and I’m not sure why people constantly ask for it.

Separately, I’m genuinely confused by the number of people who say blood ox is a must have feature. I have it on my S7 and neither use it nor see a use for it.

I wouldn’t want Apple to add a bunch of buttons or anything like that. In my view, the Apple Watch already has great sensors for really accurate data, so a Health app revamp that makes better sense of it would be reasonable and very well received.

Personally the battery life doesn’t bother me as long as it has fast charging.

 

[Sergio The One]

2 of your requests are software, not hardware. If you want software changes then join the beta software program and send feedback on the Feedback app....

Yeah, I acknowledge in my comment that those are software issues. I was just summarizing the most requested things I’ve seen.

I thought about joining the beta but after seeing that it bricked some devices, I won’t dare risk it. Either way I can’t imagine that Apple is not working on, or at least considered the things I listed.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Isn’t this a downgrade from the iWatch Series 10? 10 is a lot more than 3.

 

[DogHouseDub]

Until they properly center the crown, I'm keeping my ugly v1.

 

[MallardDuck]

I’d love to upgrade, but without the o2 sensor, it’s a non starter.

 

[Student of Life]

I wouldn’t put too much faith in it if they do, my Ultra 2 routinely tells me my blood oxygen level is around 94%, while the finger monitor in the first aid kit at work will report 99%

Honestly it mostly depends on how loose or tight your watch band is. I get strange readings but thats because my band is loose. I have to literally push the watch down my arm to get it snug then do a reading on the Series 7 spare i use to sleep with. The finger monitor is as close to idiot proof as one can get, if your finger is not all the way in it basically wont work.

 

[SAIRUS]

“We ported an iPhone feature”
“We took away some iPhone features and made it cheaper”

Hey it’s a Tim Cook board meeting.