I want to upgrade from AWU1 to AWU3 but next year the Ultra will probably get a N3P chip based on A19

[Nozgog]

I want to upgrade from AWU1 to AWU3 but next year the Ultra will probably get a N3P chip based on A19

Speed and efficiency gains will be around 20-40% so pretty big upgrade then - not sure what other upgrades are rumored for AWU4

If I upgrade now I can’t afford to upgrade next year again …

What do you guys think?

 

[gstevie]

I had a similar thought as it’s the U3 isn’t exactly a massive upgrade to the U1, but I went with it. I wanted the black colour option and the battery was getting annoying on my U1. I wouldn’t say the U1 feels sluggish and the U3 will have a slight, very slight benefit - how much faster do I think something can be done on my watch? I can’t see what else I need in terms of speed. Also going to be a what you don’t know can’t hurt… if you don’t experience the 20% increase what does that really mean? We hear they throw 20%, 30%, etc when they announce things, in the real world what is that? A couple milliseconds faster to open an app?

I think it’s one of those things every year you can always make the argument “should I wait till next year?” - you could go on and on. End of the day, do you want a new one and get a refresh? If there is nothing really annoying you about your U1, stick with it.

You could always look at exchanging the U3 for a trade in and see if you can get a deal on the U4 if it really seems like a vast upgrade.

 

[the future]

I want to upgrade from AWU1 to AWU3 but next year the Ultra will probably get a N3P chip based on A19

Speed and efficiency gains will be around 20-40% so pretty big upgrade then - not sure what other upgrades are rumored for AWU4

If I upgrade now I can’t afford to upgrade next year again …

What do you guys think?

Question is: what new functions can be enabled by a new chip? We got blood pressure (trends) this year already and blood sugar seems to be a more long-term goal still. For all of the current functions, the current Watches are more than fast enough.

 

[Marcos_Diez]

I think the New chip, plus 20% speed, more battery (little upgrade), slimmer design and new attachement system…

 

[gstevie]

I think the New chip, plus 20% speed, more battery (little upgrade), slimmer design and new attachement system…

Set a !remindme 1 year… I do not see them changing the attachment system any time soon. They seem to be bending over backwards to keep bands all the way back from S0 fitting on watches in 2025. I know Apple will Apple but people will be pissed when their years of bands become redundant and I genuinely think people will decide against buying a new watch as they don’t want to lose the use of all their bands. That’s a huge risk for them.

 

[jz0309]

Question is: what new functions can be enabled by a new chip? We got blood pressure (trends) this year already and blood sugar seems to be a more long-term goal still. For all of the current functions, the current Watches are more than fast enough.

This exactly. Besides watchOS updates and booting my S7 is doing just fine compared to my Ultra 2. Efficiency sure, speed, no.

 

[the future]

I think the New chip, plus 20% speed,

Probable, but again: enabling which new function(s)?

more battery (little upgrade),

We just got the first battery boost in Watch history, there is no way we get another boost that early.

slimmer design

Maybe … but I don‘t think so. I think Apple decided that folks who want a slim Watch should get a Series Watch (hence „thinnest ever“ since S10) and every efficiency gain for the Ultra will be spent on battery life instead. For a lot of Ultra customers, the chunkiness of the design is actually part of the appeal.

and new attachement system…

Yeah, that ship has sailed. I do believe Apple contemplated (and prototyped) this internally (hence the rumours from 1-2 years ago), but ultimately decided that keeping strap compatibility was more important.

 

[Nozgog]

I had a similar thought as it’s the U3 isn’t exactly a massive upgrade to the U1, but I went with it. I wanted the black colour option and the battery was getting annoying on my U1. I wouldn’t say the U1 feels sluggish and the U3 will have a slight, very slight benefit - how much faster do I think something can be done on my watch? I can’t see what else I need in terms of speed. Also going to be a what you don’t know can’t hurt… if you don’t experience the 20% increase what does that really mean? We hear they throw 20%, 30%, etc when they announce things, in the real world what is that? A couple milliseconds faster to open an app?

I think it’s one of those things every year you can always make the argument “should I wait till next year?” - you could go on and on. End of the day, do you want a new one and get a refresh? If there is nothing really annoying you about your U1, stick with it.

You could always look at exchanging the U3 for a trade in and see if you can get a deal on the U4 if it really seems like a vast upgrade.

Ah my thoughts exactly. Thanks for your input.

I’m annoyed by AWU1 battery health of 85% and battery life in general now - other than that all good - some of the new features would be useful to me

I don’t think the appeal of the S12 chip with N3P is necessarily about speed but rather efficiency. AWU1 is plenty fast. 30% efficiency gain from the CPU would be huge I guess?

Also I’m annoyed I didn’t order on Tuesday and now have to wait 2-4 weeks depending on band

 

[Lobwedgephil]

I want to upgrade from AWU1 to AWU3 but next year the Ultra will probably get a N3P chip based on A19

Speed and efficiency gains will be around 20-40% so pretty big upgrade then - not sure what other upgrades are rumored for AWU4

If I upgrade now I can’t afford to upgrade next year again …

What do you guys think?

There was no update for the Ultra last year, could be on a 2 year cycle.