Review: Apple Watch Ultra 2022
When extreme sports enthusiasts clamoured for an Apple watch that would go the distance with them, the brand got tough.
As someone not especially interested in sports, and definitely not the endurance kind, it’s something of a turn of events to find myself perusing triathlete sites. I’m in strange lands because Apple has just released the Apple Watch Ultra, and I’m curious to see what endurance athletes think of it. After-all, the Ultra, debuted in September during Apple’s Cupertino launch event, was designed with this ilk in mind.
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Explore the Watch and Jewellery special edition of WISH, available online and in print on Friday, 18 November.
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As Stan Ng, vice president of Apple Watch product marketing, says, it’s Apple’s most “rugged” watch yet. It’s big at 49mm, tough, made with aerospace-grade titanium and flat sapphire crystal, bright at 2000 nits (twice as bright as other Apple watches) and comes with a suite of new functions to suit people who push their bodies to the limit for fun.
“Over the years, we had heard from our customers who have shared how they’d wanted to use Apple Watch for extreme adventures and we were so inspired by what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go … from the harshest deserts to the freezing mountain tops, to even the depths of the ocean. We really wanted to create an Apple Watch that was for them to go places that were previously out of reach and to do things that the Apple Watch could not do before,” says Ng of the decision to launch Ultra, a new product line for Apple.
As such, new features include a new ‘action’ button on the left-hand side that can be customised—athletes might configure it to start a workout, but you could also set it for the flashlight. Thrillseekers will appreciate that you can use it with gloves should you be high on a mountain somewhere (so too the larger digital crown). There’s a depth gauge with a Depth app that can display time, water temperature and duration under water. Later this year, in partnership with recreational dive company Huish Outdoors, Apple will roll out the Oceanic+ app, which turns the Apple Watch Ultra into a dive computer. Back on dry land an improved GPS with dual frequency capacity, and a Backtrack function within the Compass app will help you find your way should you get lost on a hike. Another key feature, for endurance athletes, campers and those who like a weekend proof watch, is the increased battery life— in an upcoming software update up to 60 hours with the watch in low-power mode and some workout functions enabled for less checks, or up to 12 hours on an outdoor workout with GPS.
Jay Blahnik, vice president of fitness for health technologies at Apple, says feedback on the battery life, GPS and bigger screen size, has been strong within the athletic community.
“We’re not only hearing from people who are already [wearing] Apple Watch Ultra running some of the world marathons these last couple weeks, but we saw in our own testing … it’s the most accurate sports watch ever,” he says.
Still, Ng says the Apple Watch Ultra will appeal to those who run for quite literally hours, and those who prefer a more leisure-oriented lifestyle, and good design.“Ultra was inspired by endurance athletes, adventurers, explorers but we did design Apple Watch for everyone. And so if you are someone who wants to dive or hike for multiple days or compete in a triathlon, Ultra will be great for you, and there are unique experiences that we developed within Ultra for all of that. But if you’re someone who doesn’t do any of those activities like myself, and just want our most capable Apple Watch because of its larger display or longer battery life, or you just love the design, then Apple Watch Ultra is also great for you,” he says.
The Apple Watch Ultra, which comes with three new straps, includes features also found within the Apple Watch Series 8, such as the ECG app for recording heart beats and rhythm, cycle tracking with ovulation estimates and crash detection. Ng says it should feel intuitive to all Apple Watch users.
“At Apple, we are always looking at form and function together, that they always work hand in hand …[W]e have to design them together because both are important to customers, especially for something that you wear.”
PRICE: $1299