Apple’s surprise feature in the new Series 10 and Ultra 2 watches

Apple's Watch turned 10 this year but instead of a party at its Cupertino headquarters, it chose to quietly mark the occasion with a raft of updates designed to take on Garmin.

Among the flurry of updates Apple made at its biggest product launch of the year was a surprisingly useful feature that was largely overlooked.

For the first time Apple has allowed users to play music on its watches – which it has now been making for 10 years – from its built-in speakers. The audio might not be the same quality as listening through AirPods but if you’re doing housework and want to listen to a podcast or live radio without wearing headphones, it’s handy.

Apple has continued its collaboration with Hermes.

This feature is available on both the Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 10 and works on Apple and third-party apps.

It is part of an upgraded speaker package, which makes the Apple Watch a more useful piece of kit, particularly when taking calls Dick Tracy style. A new voice isolation neural network suppresses background noise. Apple says callers sound crisp – “even in noisy environments like a crowded restaurant, a city street, or a windy day outside”.

I tried it riding on my bike, downhill, whiskers rippling in the breeze – and my mother-in-law was surprised that she could still hear me clearly, despite not having the watch anywhere near my face. It was where it should be – on my wrist down near the handlebars.

The speakers are just one of the many updates Apple gave its watches, which go beyond a new lick of paint for the Ultra 2 and bigger and thinner screen for the Series 10.

So after a week’s wear, is it worth upgrading?

Apple Watch Ultra 2 comes in a new black titanium finish and Milanese loop band to match.

Unboxing 

If you have a Series 9 watch, you’re probably not in Apple’s target upgrade market. Indeed at first glance the new Series 10 doesn’t look that much different. But the more I wore the Series 10, the more I realised that Apple hadn’t merely introduced incremental upgrades.

The screen 

This is what immediately grabs my attention. It is noticeably bigger – even than the Ultra. Apple has increased the size by 9 per cent but has also made it 10 per cent thinner, measuring 9.7mm.

If you have a Series 4, 5 or 6 watch (squarely in Apple’s upgrade target market) – the difference is more pronounced, with the screen 30 per cent bigger.

The Apple Watch Series 10 features a screen that's 10 per cent bigger than the Series 9.

Apple has also increased the brightness by 40 per cent when viewed at an angle – which is the case when most of us glance at our watches. I found I was able to check my stats on a run with ease. I like how tech has escaped the mid-noughties trend of ‘who can make the smallest gadget’ – at least as I now enter middle age. My eyesight is thankful for it.

Apple achieves a bigger screen not by just increasing the size of the device but also making the screen borders – which contain the electronics – thinner. And on the Apple Watch the new OLED display is curved around the edges.

This might not seem a big deal, but Apple shows me how far it has come since the original Apple Watch, which was a square screen with thick black borders, which it tried to hide by using black backgrounds.

Apple Watch Series 10 features a wide-angle OLED display, which Apple says optimises each pixel to emit more light at wider angles, and is up to 40 per cent brighter than Apple Watch Series 9 when viewed from an angle.

This new wide-angle display also enables a faster refresh rate when Apple Watch is in always-on mode, going from once a minute to once a second. It provides an experience more akin to wearing an analog watch, allowing users to see a ticking second hand.

If that’s too old school for you, a reflections watch face allows you to view a shimmering dial that reacts to user movements. This watch face works particularly well with the Series 10’s polished titanium case, which fuses tech and bling. But if you’re really after jewellery, Apple has continued its collaboration with Hermes, which began with Apple Watch Series 2, with pricing starting at $2109.

New apps

Living on the Surf Coast, I was keen to try Apple’s new tides app. Using your location, it can immediately provide you with data about your nearest beach. Looking at the Apple Watch Ultra 2 while writing this review, I can see that the tide is falling at Bells Beach and will be a 0.4m low at 8:03pm. Handy if you want to go for a surf or go fishing.

Admittedly, not everyone will find this useful. So Apple hasn’t stopped there. It now incorporates a training load, which measures how the intensity and duration of workouts impact a user’s body over time, which can help users make informed decisions about their training each day. My brother-in-law showed me a similar feature on his Garmin a couple of months ago, saying it took the guesswork out of detraining and preventing injury.

The new depth gauge can measure down to 6 metres beneath the water’s surface, and the new water temperature sensor measures the temperature of the water.

The new Tides app automatically shows you the tide level at your nearest beach.

It shows how serious Apple is at making not just a user-friendly smartwatches but serious sports watches, with the Ultra 2 providing a worthy rival to Garmin’s top watches.

There is even now a depth gauge, which comes on automatically when the watch is submerged, as Apple seeks to make it useful for more extreme activities, like scuba diving. I tested this in the pool and found it accurate. While I was in the pool, I also found the Ultra 2 could also automatically detect when I changed from freestyle to breaststroke, helping me keep more tabs on my training.

The Apple Watch is also capable of detecting sleep apnoea, subject to regulatory approval.

The case 

The Ultra Watch 2 now comes in a new a black titanium finish with a diver-inspired Milanese loop band to match. Apple says it hasn’t compromised the ruggedness of the watch, thanks to a custom blasting process, and the “diamond-like carbon physical vapour deposition coating” over the grade 5 titanium makes it scratch-resistant and durable.

The new Titanium Milanese Loop band for Apple Watch Ultra comes in both black and natural titanium.

The Apple Watch 10 also gets a new look, coming in an aerospace-grade polished titanium that replaces the stainless steel of previous generations. It is also 95 per cent recycled titanium, which Apple says helps step up its carbon neutral credentials. It also enhances the bling factor.

The standard aluminium Series 10 also gets a new finish – a polished jet black which makes it difficult to tell that it is 100 per cent recycled aluminium, looking more like a Japanese lacquer.

But the aluminium models come in an Ion-X glass, which while tough, isn’t as durable as the sapphire crystal used in the titanium series 10 and Ultra 2 watches.

Charging

Apple says the new metal back of Series 10 integrates a larger and more efficient charging coil. Fifteen minutes of charging provides up to eight hours of normal use, and 30 minutes takes Apple Watch Series 10 up to 80 per cent of its battery life. I found this pretty accurate.

The Ultra 2 can also last a few days without charging. Apple says it’s capable of 36 hours of battery life with regular use or up to 72 hours in low power mode – pretty impressive for a 3000 nit display and automatic GPS connectivity.

A new depth gauge, water temperature sensor, and Tides app make Apple Watch Series 10 more suitable for water activities.

Verdict

For the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, Apple has released more than incremental upgrades, providing a significant difference over the Series 9 – for which you also have the option to trade in and receive a credit.

The author travelled to Cupertino as a guest of Apple.

Originally published as Apple’s surprise feature in the new Series 10 and Ultra 2 watches