Video Demos Apple Watch Ultra's Depth App in Underwater Test Chamber

[NightFox]

130 feet (40m), not 130 meters.

It always baffles me when posts like this get a downvote without any explanation 🤔

 

[now i see it]

Leave it up to Apple to nanny alert even a dive watch: They can’t help themselves.

“Over 130ft, the screen turns bright yellow, displays a warning “beyond 130 ft” and stops displaying depth info”.

I’d say that this watch is a poor choice for a dive watch. And I’ve logged over 1000 dives in my long life.

 

[Eldiablojoe]

120 feet is the generally accepted maximum depth for sport scuba diving (per PADI and NAUI teaching). It makes perfect sense to have the watch stop recording depth after 130 to prevent scuba divers from trying to push limits to see how deep they can get. Smart move by Apple in this regard.

 

[Max Powers]

Wow the depth app. I'm sure that will come in handy for the .05% of people who will actually use it for diving or other underwater activities.

 

[koa]

Also, 40m (131 feet) is a safe limit for normal dives since oxygen becomes toxic not long after 50m (164 feet).
After this, you will need specialized equipment (rebreathers) with a different gas mixture

That’s not accurate. You can scuba dive deeper than 164’ on regular air.

 

[Dainin]

120 feet is the generally accepted maximum depth for sport scuba diving (per PADI and NAUI teaching). It makes perfect sense to have the watch stop recording depth after 130 to prevent scuba divers from trying to push limits to see how deep they can get. Smart move by Apple in this regard.

It does not make perfect sense to stop displaying your depth after 130 ft. Errors, mistakes, and emergencies happen. Let‘s say my dive buddy gets disoriented due to nitrogen narcosis and starts swimming down instead of up. I dive below 130ft to get them. Now you’ve put both divers at risk because they don’t know how low they actually went and are therefor not able to adjust their stops to offset the deeper dive. I will ignore the fact that you should have a redundant depth gauge.

That being said, the Depth app is NOT marketed as a dive computer. If the Oceanic+ app does the same thing, I will be concerned. In all the dive computers I’ve used, most of them for recreational divers, I’ve never seen them stop displaying your depth at 130ft.

 

[_Spinn_]

Very cool that the Ultra includes a depth sensor.

 

[ZzapDK]

That’s not accurate. You can scuba dive deeper than 164’ on regular air.

I wrote "not long after 50m (164 feet)", so while technically correct, you will not be able to go much further with regular air without experiencing nitrogen narcosis and probable death.

If you don't like reading, the I suggest you watch Monty Halls' Dive Mysteries: The Curse of The Blue Hole where they also cover this topic (it's a bit long winded, but interesting nonetheless).

Nitrogen narcosis becomes a hazard below 30 metres (98 ft) and hypoxic breathing gas is required below 60 metres (200 ft) to lessen the risk of oxygen toxicity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_diving

The major worldwide recreational diver certification agencies consider 130 feet (40 m) to be the limit for recreational diving. British and European agencies, including BSAC and SAA, recommend a maximum depth of 50 metres (160 ft)...
Technical diving extends these depth limits through changes to training, equipment, and the gas mix used. The maximum depth considered safe is controversial and varies among agencies and instructors, however, there are programs that train divers for dives to 120 metres (390 ft).
Professional diving usually limits the allowed planned decompression depending on the code of practice, operational directives, or statutory restrictions. Depth limits depend on the jurisdiction, and maximum depths allowed range from 30 metres (100 ft) to more than 50 metres (160 ft), depending on the breathing gas used and the availability of a decompression chamber nearby or on site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuba_diving#Depth_range

 

[anthogag]

Much better than bashing it with a hammer.

 

[svish]

Very interesting video!!

 

[kimhill]

It does not make perfect sense to stop displaying your depth after 130 ft.

I think it does make perfect sense from Apple's perspective. They want the product to be used for recreational diving only, which is understandable. 130' covers 99% of dives made by non-technical divers. If someone often dives to around 130', the Apple Watch Ultra (used as a dive computer) is simply not intended for them.

If divers knew that they could ignore the 130' depth limit, and still be able to use the watch normally, the depth limit would just be ignored. Basically, if the limit is intended to be serious, you can‘t leave all the features on below it. That’s as much about human nature as it is about product design.

Let’s say they add a 25‘ margin in case of unexpected events, down currents, etc. Now, in practical terms, the watch has a new depth limit of 155‘.

For everybody. All the time.

And the next step would be deep divers objecting to the 155' limit, "in case something unexpected happens." And so on.