Definitely something I have to see in person first. As someone with small wrist, that currently owns the smaller of the two Apple Watches, I fear it will look ridiculous.
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Apple Watch Ultra Features 76% Larger Battery Than Series 8
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This is a good upgrade to the S5, my patience was rewarded!
I wonder what battery life on the Ultra will be like when you turn off the AOD and cellular radios? I assume these are two things that the low power mode will do to eek out 60 hours, but that still seems like a low number compared to some of the run/sport watches currently on the market.
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Crazy how weak the series 8 "upgrade" proposition hast turned out. It's essentially a series 6 with ovulation tracking. Now subtract the men who don't have a cycle, kids, post-menopausal women, and women who are on birth control and don't care about ovulation... and for the vast majority of the Apple Watch community, there is no reason to upgrade. They really mailed it in on the series 8.
Doesn’t answer if Apple is giving the Ultra 36/60 hours when it’s used within range of an iPhone or if we get these numbers on cellular only.
This is definitely not a daily watch. This has a specific purpose. It's not classy like the other models for day to day use. It's great though that it has a much better battery (I would hope considering it's size). But the old SOC?! Really?
Gotta give it to Apple though, they are geniuses at marketing and maximizing profits.
Gotta give it to Apple though, they are geniuses at marketing and maximizing profits.
Since the AW6 it hardly matters in terms of features, if you come from a S5 is half half on the benefits, AW4 or lower you get some nice upgrades although pretty incremental they are nice quality of life improvements.
I went for a Ultra to replace my AW4, it is still perfectly fine but i need a big battery as i want to use my AW standalone again and leave the phone at home to mitigate a internet surfing addiction
I went for a Ultra to replace my AW4, it is still perfectly fine but i need a big battery as i want to use my AW standalone again and leave the phone at home to mitigate a internet surfing addiction
So far i have read it is like 18 hours battery life on LTE only, but i think it should be fine as i used my AW4 LTE for a year without the iphone present and it lasted me through the day just fine back then.
But honestly there are quite a few fine prints with the Ultra that people very easily read over due being overly hyped up.
Dont get me wrong i have a ultra on order buttttt:
- Screen-size minimal larger then regular AW8
- Misleading comercial showing a borderless display on the Ultra in the video.
- 60 hour in battery saver mode but turns it basically into a casio watch.
- 36 hours if connected to the iphone, 18 hours on LTE without a Iphone nearby.
- SOC is the same as in the AW6, i feel my AW4 is still plenty fast so no issue for me here.
I won't say it is ugly, but it isn't what I would want to see to move from my Garmin Fenix 6 back to an Apple Watch. I do agree that the Epix 2 is far better looking and meets my needs better though, and so if I was going to move to an AMOLED watch it would be the Epix 2. The battery life on the Apple Watch Ultra is about half of what it needs to be to make the device start being interesting, but it would take 5 days of battery, in regular power/smartwatch mode, for me to really think about it at all; that would still be small life by Garmin standards.
Long story short, Apple is a long ways from tempting most of us who values what Garmin offers.
Epix 2 battery specs:
Smartwatch: Up to 16 days (6 days always-on)
Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 21 days
Fenix 7 battery specs:
Smartwatch: Up to 18 days/22 days with solar*
Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 57 days/173 days with solar*
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I found out.
While the mAhs might be an 76% increase, Apple essentially states battery life on thr Ultra is double of the 18h claim that it gives 7, 8, and SE 2nd Gen. (4, 5, and 6 too? I don’t remember).
From the product page for Ultra:
- All-day battery life is based on the following use: 180 time checks, 180 notifications, 90 minutes of app use, and a 60-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 36 hours; Apple Watch Ultra (GPS + Cellular) usage includes a total of 8 hours of LTE connection and 28 hours of connection to iPhone via Bluetooth over the course of 36 hours. Testing conducted by Apple in August 2022 using preproduction Apple Watch Ultra (GPS + Cellular) paired with an iPhone; all devices tested with prerelease software. Battery life varies by use, configuration, cellular network, signal strength, and many other factors; actual results will vary.
- All-day battery life is based on the following use: 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 60-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 18 hours; Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS) usage includes connection to iPhone via Bluetooth during the entire 18-hour test; Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS + Cellular) usage includes a total of 4 hours of LTE connection and 14 hours of connection to iPhone via Bluetooth over the course of 18 hours. Testing conducted by Apple in August 2022 using preproduction Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS) and Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS + Cellular), each paired with an iPhone; all devices tested with prerelease software. Battery life varies by use, configuration, cellular network, signal strength, and many other factors; actual results will vary.
Whatever the case, I must assume this is the first Watch you'll struggle to kill in one day.
I think I’d wait for a CPU upgrade. Should be significantly improved performance when it comes out. I have a 6, I can wait!
Thanks for posting that! yeah i am super excited for my Ultra, just being able to last 1 day hahaha i can hear garmin users chuckle
I still hope Apple can do something to increase battery life further to meet that of garmin, not sure if it is LTE related but i do think so as the garmins dont have that probably with a very good reason Yeah totally understand, my AW4 is still previous version tech basically no AOD, smaller screen, no fast charging and the older previous gen chipset (i feel it is perfectly fine though)
So i think my experience will be more positive then someone that already has all these featurs on their AW6 or up as in a smaller marginal experience boost in terms of usage.
Lol @ all the haters in the comments section. I pre-ordered the Ultra and I’m gonna love it to the Ultra max!
It’s not necessarily about the speed but more about the power consumption. They can squeeze more battery life out of it, if they have a more efficient SoC.
The non-Ultra will need 4 to 5 days of battery life for me to consider it.....it should be able to run as long as my Kickstarter Pebble back in the day! For now I'm still sporting my Citizen eco-drive Promaster analog.
"This watch is larger overall, and thicker.. I can't imagine how the battery life is improved." lol.
$800 is a bit of a stretch for a 36 hour digital watch.
When I travel internationally not only do I need an outlet and cables for my MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad but I also need one for my Watch. It’s becomes a pain having to always charge the thing.
When I travel internationally not only do I need an outlet and cables for my MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad but I also need one for my Watch. It’s becomes a pain having to always charge the thing.
They are waiting for 3nm chip as that will enable more power saving...
IMHO does look ugly with its bulkiness. so i prefer the smaller battery.
even if i was doing any of the things this watch was made for, i would only use it while actually doing these things and use a "normal" apple watch the rest of the time. but then i likely wouldn't need this big of a battery either, unless i'm traveling for days 😂
even if i was doing any of the things this watch was made for, i would only use it while actually doing these things and use a "normal" apple watch the rest of the time. but then i likely wouldn't need this big of a battery either, unless i'm traveling for days 😂
I can wait till next year, same chip as my s6 and a half baked temperature sensors aren’t cool when paying for SS. The screen that came with the s7 is a bigger upgrade.
I'm a man with tiny wrists and if I were to wear the Ultra, I'd look like one of those nerds in the 80s that had those huge calculator watches. Hard pass. Also, I won't pay $800 for a watch with an old SoC.