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Video Review: Apple Watch Ultra After a Year

My Ultra is, effectively, my smartphone. Everything that one might have done (and plenty more) with early smartphones, up to the original iPhone era, I do with the Ultra. My 13 mini is a pocket tablet; I mostly “only” use it for reading (and, of course, the camera).

I’m curious about upcoming watches, of course, but nothing in any of the rumors would constitute a worthwhile upgrade for me. I expect to stick with the Ultra at least until some significant new sensor technology (such as blood pressure and / or blood glucose). (Not that I have health issues I’m aware of, but the whole point of these things is to learn about such before they become problems.)

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Are any of the Tim Cook haters reading this thread? Apple Watch is the most popular watch in the world and it's completely tied to an iPhone. The Apple Watch Ultra seems to be the single best Watch Apple have made by far (I wish I bought it instead of the version 8). People have said it’s boring compared to the others, but it remains the number 1 selling Watch. They said the Ultra was too big, but anyone seems to be able to wear it.

Can it improve? I bet it can, but so far they seem to have gotten this 100% right. All I want is better repairability for the screen.
 
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I have thin little bird arms and currently wear a 41mm 7 (band size 4). However I am increasingly annoyed by the scratches that I inflicted on my watch crystal about 15 minutes after I neglected to replace my screen protector film... WHO KNEW that a few hours of pulling weeds would be so damaging!!! I am obsessed with the glory of the flat crystal of the Ultra and went to my Apple store today and strapped one on to see just how ridiculously oversized it would be on me.

Yeah. I plan to upgrade as soon as I see what V2 looks like. idc if i blacken my own eye with it, WANT
 
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I have a love/hate relationship with my Ultra. I love it, because it is Apple. I hate it, because it is lacking compared to even a basic Garmin.

I wear it 24/7 unless I'm charging. I run/swim/cycle in it. I've done races and triathlons in it.

The battery life has gotten worse over time. In battery health it still shows 99%, but my charging has become more frequent. Still, I love that I don't have to worry about charging my watch every single day any more.

I'm hoping the Workouts app improves. A lot is lacking for running. I've tried a refurbished $99 Garmin Forerunner 245 recently and it was a lot better. My coach gives me exercises every day and it is a pain to enter them from the Apple Watch. Garmin can just sync. I'd settle for even just being able to enter them in from my phone. There needs to be some way of managing your previous workouts. Sometimes I have a ton show up, and then sometimes only a few to pick from. It is so hit or miss that I have started to enter them in and naming them by date and no longer reusing previous ones - again a pain to do from the watch. I know it is trying to be smart and guess what run I might want to do, but I really just need a way of organizing them, deleting, and having a clear way to get to a previous one I want to reuse. I want to be able to enter in my actual heart rate zones instead of ones the watch estimates. I want to customize the screens. I want to customize the screen when one part of a custom workout finishes - this one is extremely frustrating. I really want to be able to adjust how hard it taps me on the wrist - the Garmin was very strong and you won't miss it, but the Apple Watch Ultra gives a wimpy tap and I've missed it countless times when I'm next to a busy street.

Siri - poor Siri. It never works right. It is more frustrating than just pulling out my phone or fiddling with my watch.

Probably not Ultra specific, but I have my Shokz headphones connected by bluetooth to both my phone and watch. Sometimes I leave my phone behind, and just want to use my watch. In this case it all works great. If I bring my phone with me, I end up having music playing from both my watch and phone way too often. This should be handled a lot smoother. This might also be a Siri issue.

Weight/size - I'm used to it, but I wouldn't complain if they made it less tall and weigh less.

I'll probably keep wearing it, because I do like the look of it, I like how it is tied into Apple Music and it is just good enough to get by as a fitness watch. It is disappointing to be talking about their flagship model as just good enough though. I get it that probably most people that buy it are just using it as a fashion accessory, but I feel like they could really improve a lot of the software to make everyone happier.
 
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now i see it said:
Buy a Rolex and keep it for a lifetime.
Buy an Apple Watch and another a few years later and another and another and another.
It’s the  way.
Click to expand...
It is true in a way, a traditional watch could last you a lifetime. The AW of course is much much more than a wrist-worn time telling device, so the comparison with an analog watch does not really make sense anymore. I wonder what the word watch will mean in a hundred years from now … or phone for that matter …
 
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I realized something with Watch Ultra. Apple Watch keeps me in the ecosystem probably as much as iMessage at this point.

I actually considered that if I ever wanted to change phones I’d keep my old one charged up at home simply so I could continue using Apple Watch.
 
now i see it said:
Buy a Rolex and keep it for a lifetime.
Buy an Apple Watch and another a few years later and another and another and another.
It’s the  way.
Click to expand...
Even if the Apple Watch were only a watch (with time and, at most, date), it would still make so little sense to compare these two items given the price difference alone, never mind that there are so many situations in which you'd likely rather wear no watch than risk the Rolex, but that are fine for something as "abusable" as the Apple Watch.
 
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Love the ultra. Also, this magnetic band works wonders for me: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09WQZ874J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I really do wish we had more flex in what goes on the screen. These analog faces are the dumbest part to me. Very little option for designing what could be info-packed watch faces.

Finally, I know Dan doesn't like the action button, but it's a fabulous flashlight for me. Very handy, and the ultra is very bright. Can't see not having that.
 
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now i see it said:
Buy a Rolex and keep it for a lifetime.
Buy an Apple Watch and another a few years later and another and another and another.
It’s the  way.
Click to expand...
Rolex = expensive and overpriced jewelry that happens to be a watch
Apple Watch Ultra = a swiss army knife of smart functions one of which happens to be a watch.
Completely different products.

and in my opinion, Rolexes are now hideous
 
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Have enjoyed my Ultra from day 1. Battery life is a game changer for me compared to normal Apple Watch. I have big wrists and love to wear big watches so this was a win/win for me. Great watch. Not sure if I will upgrade to U2 unless there are some significant upgrades.
 
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mr.datsun said:
I'm sure the Ultra was great for screen and battery, but the addition of the raised rim to the original smooth design was another shot in the foot for post-Ives Apple. Imo.
Click to expand...
The existing Watch shape owes almost everything to Marc Newson - way more so than Ive. The Ikepod line has just about every cue for Apple Watch in it.
 
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The one thing I absolutely hate about the Apple watch ultra, is the action button. (And how you unlock from ”water mode” since iOS 8 I think)

When I’m in a workout with the screen locked in water mode, if I do pushups or lift weight my wrist presses the and the other button at the same time, causing my workout to pause, I’m usually wearing boxing wraps, so I can’t see that I’ve paused my workout and I end up losing half of my workout, because the the lock/water mode, doesn’t lock all the buttons.

I also unlock the water mode all the time by holding the crown down ever since they switched from holding to unlock instead of twisting, I wish Apple would make that an option. I thought the Ultra’s extra meta around the crown would prevent that. I actually had to start wearing the with The crown on the other side, because I called 911 too many time while riding my motorcycle.
 
StanleyOmar said:
Even if the Apple Watch were only a watch (with time and, at most, date), it would still make so little sense to compare these two items given the price difference alone, never mind that there are so many situations in which you'd likely rather wear no watch than risk the Rolex, but that are fine for something as "abusable" as the Apple Watch.
Click to expand...

You'd probably still want to keep an Apple Watch so you can set the Rolex to the correct time each day. :D
 
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macsplusmacs said:
Product of the Year (2022-2023) for me for sure.
Click to expand...
I would love to upgrade my Apple Watch series 8 to Ultra if they give 41mm option as I have small wrist. And yes Apple Watch > iPhone. I wear it everyday, use it for almost everything I use my iPhone for except for texting. I just found out that I can use my watch to pay on transit here while the watch is hidden inside my jacket sleeves which alarmed some people who thought I have chip embedded into my wrist skin. Or magic. Too funny.
 
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OCNADV said:
I had no interest in an Apple Watch because of the rugged use I need in a watch. I am a Polar Expedition Guide, working in Antarctica in the winter (Austral summer) and in the Arctic in the summer. Also as a SCUBA instructor I needed a rugged dive watch. I got the Apple Watch Ultra because it seemed to check off all the things I needed it to do and more. I got my AWU for the Antarctica season last year and with the dive band so I could wear it on the outside of my parka. The AWU performed admirably as a time piece but I obviously could not use the other features with gloves on. I was even more pleased as its function as a dive computer (with the Oceanic+ app). It's simple, bright and colored display I liked even better than my primary dive computer! The only SCUBA feature missing is wireless support for my tank pressure gauge. I am happy with my AWU and it well fits my needs. I would probably upgrade if AWU included wireless support for my my SCUBA tank pressure gauge.
Click to expand...
Thanks this is incredibly informative.
 
I am still rocking the series 6, most likely I will upgrade to AW ultra 3 or 4. It’s probably one of my most anticipated upgrades.
 
Is it just me or does the audio seem off in this latest MacRumors video @Dan Barbera? Seems kinda echo-y and the cuts seem a little weird. Did you have to fall back to camera audio and run it through AI cleanup or maybe accidentally export the wrong audio track with the video?

The Apple Watch Ultra is the thing I'm looking forward to purchasing the most this year. My Series 4 battery life has been taking a nosedive over the past year and I'm noticing it lagging at times with certain tasks. It's certainly nowhere near as bad as my Series 0 was at this point before getting the Series 4, but I'm glad I waited with the chip upgrades coming to the latest generation after it being stuck on pretty much the same tech for the past several years. I'm curious to see if the Ultra gets any new features this year since we haven't heard much for the Watch.
 
I wish they would offer an iPhone ultra with a 2x battery. I am fine with all of the features of my 14 pro with the exception of battery life. Give me a phone with a battery that can last 2-3 days with heavy use. That an increase the operating operating range. They overhear in the sun way too easily.
 
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