Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

[iPadified]

the technology DOES exist, Samsung released a smartwatch 2 years ago with BP, it was not accurate and needed calibration regularly, and it was discontinued after 1 year.
It has been in multiple reports here on MR that BP will not give you actual measurements but trends, that is what I expect to come this year.
And, technology for non-invasive blood sugar measurements exists too, just for that it needs to be a medical device and therefor undergo regulatory scrutiny's and that takes time, a long time ...

Technology evolves, think thermometer for a second where it has gone from putting it into your behind and nowadays pointing it to your forehead.

False security is no security.

If the sensing cannot be trusted, then the technology do not exist. It is about who is liable of wrong readings and therefore medical devices are so strongly regulated. Well and the fact that people may die due to wrong readings. Both BP and blood glucose* has clear values for what is normal and users will not be able to handle something complex as trends.

What I think is that we need a "middle" way in terms of regulations. These devices could be good as "screeners" where positive findings (such as cardiac irregularities) can be found which is good. Apple (or others) should however have no responsibility for false negatives (missing a disease). Better to find few than none at all. False positives are easier as a trips to the doctors will tell you it was a false alarm.

*I was on a sensor conference year 2000 showing data in IR glucose sensing with the conclusion it was impossible to implement due to users varying physiology (skin compositions, skin color, hairiness) and how and where the devices was mounted. No technology can compensate for such external factors that may also vary in time.

 

[Brad Caruso]

If those are the “upgrades” do we even need a new version at this time?

Nope.

 

[Dr McKay]

or at the very least more ACCURATE sensors

This is the big one for me, I have to wear my Ultra 2 uncomfortably tight for the O2 sensor to capture an accurate result, how tight I usually wear it makes it give results in the low 90s percentage-wise. Firmly in the “consult your doctor” according to my country’s health service.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

I don’t see Satellite being added, as it requires a lot of power and directional antenna positioning that isn’t realistic.

On the other hand, it could easily use satellite direct to phone service, like the T-Mobile/Starlink offering if it has 5G support.

Only asking because I’m genuinely curious, but how would positioning be a challenge? Certainly power could be tough…not sure how much usage one could get out of it…perhaps emergencies only?

 

[pbau]

Bigger battery and better life under heavy use is needed.

 

[1m4tr]

You know it’s slow at MacRumors when most articles are recaps, “speculation posts”, and reworded write-ups with existing information. I’m sure some people appreciate them, but I wish there was a way to filter them out.

You know you’re on a site called MacRumors? It could have been MacSpeculation easily though it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

 

[Rafagon]

IF a new health sensor is not offered, I will not upgrade. It's been far too long already with no new health sensors.
The other listed updates are fine but not convincing for me.
I also don't consider 5G a necessity but more an evolution...

Oh, and most importantly: SpO2 MUST come back

It's indeed very much an evolution. Especially given that it's not real 5G. It's TEMU-level 5G AKA 5G RedCap.

 

[groove-agent]

I don’t want any hardware upgrades, the Apple Watch needs software upgrades. The Apple Watch doesn’t do stress tracking , or body battery (for starters) at all - you have to pay a sub for third party apps. WatchOS doesn’t explain the data to you or offer layperson insights to what the data means. Garmin does it better which is surprising and also rather disappointing.

Also consider the primary function of the watch is to tell time, and the majority of the AW faces are plain, boring, and stale. They need to create a watch face store/ developer kit for people to develop their own faces to make the AW actually fun and interesting to use.

 

[groove-agent]

They have made the bezels smaller on the Series watches several times - The Ultra could use that, so we would get a bigger display in same case. And more battery life please - if those two are present I will instantly upgrade.

The battery life doesn’t seem to be a priority for Apple on either models though. Just keep it the same all the time is a poor strategy when the competition has better battery on all models

The convection charging on the AW is so much slower than direct connection too. I can put my Garmin on charge each time I shower and that is sufficient. I couldn’t sleep track with the AW because it would always be on charge by the time to go to bed.

 

[Dr Kevorkian94]

They can't add one of those new-fangled silicone carbide batteries to give it a 20% or so battery boost?

 

[turbineseaplane]

the majority of the AW faces are plain, boring, and stale. They need to create a watch face store/ developer kit for people to develop their own faces to make the AW actually fun and interesting to use.

I'm amazed they haven't done this. Garmin has it, and it's totally awesome.

The creativity of users when creating watch faces is impossible to overstate.

 

[sleepngbear]

I don’t want any hardware upgrades, the Apple Watch needs software upgrades. The Apple Watch doesn’t do stress tracking , or body battery (for starters) at all - you have to pay a sub for third party apps. I watchOS doesn’t explain the data to you or offer layperson insights to what the data means. Garmin does it better which is surprising and also rather disappointing.

Also consider the primary function of the watch is to tell time, and the majority of the AW faces are plain, boring, and stale. They need to create a watch face store/ developer kit for people to develop their own faces to make the AW actually fun and interesting to use.

^^^ This. All the other features on a watch are gravy, if you ask me. Mostly nice-to-haves, probably 10% of which I actually use. I’m a regular watch user (just upgraded to a series 10), but I’ll bet most of you Ultra users are about the same. With all the processing power in these things, custom watch faces - I mean really custom - should be a thing across the entire AW lineup.

 

[canpoyrazoglu]

As an AWU1 user, I see nothing to upgrade.

All the additions are not-needed and just nice-to-have features.

What most of us are waiting for are actual new features like new health sensors and measurements.

Put the actual features, and those extras are always welcome in addition to actual features, not instead of them.

 

[Stymyx]

How about settling the lawsuit with Masimo so that the blood oxygen sensor can be turned back on?

 

[mk313]

How about settling the lawsuit with Masimo so that the blood oxygen sensor can be turned back on?

I feel like that ship has sailed. Doesn't the patent expire in like 2026 or 2027. I'd imagine at this point, they will just wait till then to reintroduce it.

 

[sflagel]

The two most obvious features that are missing:

- a low-res camera
- glucose monitor

Both are still years away, unfortunately.

 

[Anonymous123]

You know you’re on a site called MacRumors? It could have been MacSpeculation easily though it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

“Speculation post” meaning there isn’t any new information or rumors, it’s just an article regurgitating old information for the sake of “what if.” This one is a good example: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/13/apple-airport-might-return-in-unexpected-way/

My point is all these recaps, roundups, and yes, speculation posts aren’t reporting on anything new, they are just pushing out articles with different wording on already-posted information.

 

[groove-agent]

As an AWU1 user, I see nothing to upgrade.

All the additions are not-needed and just nice-to-have features.

What most of us are waiting for are actual new features like new health sensors and measurements.

Put the actual features, and those extras are always welcome in addition to actual features, not instead of them.

All the sensors and data collection doesn’t mean anything unless you know how to interpret them in meaningful ways. This is where the AW fails. The Garmin gives you an explanation every day of what you did and what you can expect as well as suggestions. It’s a shocker that Apple is still not close to doing this. Maybe they’re waiting to get their AI working (although Garmin doesn’t use AI for this).

 

[groove-agent]

“Speculation post” meaning there isn’t any new information or rumors, it’s just an article regurgitating old information for the sake of “what if.” This one is a good example: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/13/apple-airport-might-return-in-unexpected-way/

My point is all these recaps, roundups, and yes, speculation posts aren’t reporting on anything new, they are just pushing out articles with different wording on already-posted information.

I think MR recycles the same old rumours when nothing is going on, or puts a fresh spin on old rumours to produce content. In all fairness some people may have missed the older posts but if you’re here every day, you start to notice some grasping at straws and regurgitation of the same old rumours over and over again.

 

[neotint]

WHAT ABOUT MUSIC QUALITY??? There's nothing "Ultra" about listening to crunchy ~65kbps AAC music off of downloaded Music on your "high end" Apple watch. Forget about 5G for a watch, give us a choice to have quality music to work out to without our phones! 🏃‍♂️🤸‍♂️🏋️‍♂️🧘‍♂️ ... or just bring back a wireless Nano

 

[UltimaKilo]

Battery is on its last leg and I want the battery longevity of the ultra series.

A battery replacement is cheap. There's nothing barring you from upgrading again in the next 2 years when we finally see a meaningful upgrade anyway, so it's not that big a deal, just tempering your expectations having gone from the S5 to the S10 and consider myself a "power" Apple Watch user with sleep tracking, 3+ hours a day of exercise and find there hasn't been any meaningful update since the S5's always-on.

 

[rgwebb]

A battery replacement is cheap. There's nothing barring you from upgrading again in the next 2 years when we finally see a meaningful upgrade anyway, so it's not that big a deal, just tempering your expectations having gone from the S5 to the S10 and consider myself a "power" Apple Watch user with sleep tracking, 3+ hours a day of exercise and find there hasn't been any meaningful update since the S5's always-on.

I don't want to replace the battery again. I want the purely larger battery of the ultra series. I do not care about features in the watch segment. There is almost nothing my series 6 offers that I use frequently that wasn't already in the original I bought in 2014.

At this juncture I know that replacing a battery on a S6 means I will get 1.5 years of acceptable battery life, .5 years of tolerable battery life, and after that the thing requires active management to make it through a day with a morning or evening workout.

I just want the 36 hours of every day use on a new battery plus the fast charging feature available on S7 or newer + Ultra series watches. I imagine that I will be able to get days of all-day and sleep wear without needing a full charge just passively getting some juice when I take showers or remove it for some other reason. As the battery degrades, it will still not require active management like a 2+ year old Series 6 battery will. Starting from more capacity at 100% battery health is the feature I really want.

 

[Momof2.1107]

I’ve decided instead of upgrading my AWU2 for blood pressure monitoring, I will purchase the Hilo band once it’s released in the US. As for blood glucose monitoring, I’ll just continue having my CGM sync my numbers to Apple Health as my CGM isn’t an issue for me and I only have to change it every 15 days. That should hold me over until September 2028.

Hilo | Easy 24/7 blood pressure monitoring

Get stress-free readings round the clock with Hilo's clinically validated blood pressure monitor. Learn more

hilo.com

 

[canpoyrazoglu]

All the sensors and data collection doesn’t mean anything unless you know how to interpret them in meaningful ways. This is where the AW fails. The Garmin gives you an explanation every day of what you did and what you can expect as well as suggestions. It’s a shocker that Apple is still not close to doing this. Maybe they’re waiting to get their AI working (although Garmin doesn’t use AI for this).

I guess you're right. I'm expecting too much from a device which even has trouble doing simple math in swimming workouts.

 

[groove-agent]

I guess you're right. I'm expecting too much from a device which even has trouble doing simple math in swimming workouts.

Some sources loosely suggest that sleep tracking on watches is about 60% accurate. I know on my Garmin, it will often report I’m sleeping when I’m not. It will say I’ve slept 7 hours instead of 4-5 because I was just laying there like an insomniac. It makes me wonder how inaccurate everything else is. At best it will detect relative changes in activity, not actual precise activity.

I think we give wearables too much credit.