Apple will hold its reveal event for the latest iPhone and three new Apple Watch models on Tuesday September 9, and while I’ve not needed an upgrade for a while thanks to my purchase of an Apple Watch Ultra 1, this appears to be the year I’m going to end up spending some money on an Ultra 3.
Why now? While I admit I was tempted when the black version of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 rolled out last year, I stuck to my guns. This time around, however, I think it’ll be harder to do so for two reasons.
More power, less charging
While I certainly don’t need another watch that’s likely to cost $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, I do prefer Apple Watch over rivals for its adherence to the Apple ecosystem. It really does ‘just work’ for me, and while I’m not running any marathons or competing in triathlons, I do need the longer battery life afforded by the Ultra line to monitor an ongoing heart condition overnight.
That’s getting harder, though, because my Apple Watch Ultra’s battery life is getting shorter and shorter. While the iPhone’s battery health is visible via diagnostics (from iPhone 6 onwards), you can actually access the same feature on Apple Watch by going to Settings > Battery on the watch itself.
My current watch sits at 85%, which isn’t bad, but it’s a noticeable 15% drop over the last few years. At the time of writing, I’ve been wearing it for around 14 hours, and having done a single workout and some walking I’ve used around half of my battery life. Not quite 36 hours.
Watches suffer from “capacity fade”, a problem that affects just about any electronic device with a rechargeable battery, as noted in a report published in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.
Over a period of time, batteries are unable to store as much charge as they used to, operating on a reduced capacity.
So, where does the Pixel Watch 4 fit into this? Well, in a big step forward for repairability across Google’s devices, the company is allowing battery replacement on the Pixel Buds 2a case and the Google Pixel Watch 4.
If a user has a Torx screwdriver and some time to spare (less than an hour, apparently), they can open up the latest Google wearable and not only remove the battery and install a fresh replacement, but the display, too.
I’d love to be able to remove the battery myself in a few years and pop a new one in rather than hand it over to Apple and pay a premium for AppleCare+. Those without AppleCare often end up throwing their watch in a drawer when it becomes unusable, rather than paying exorbitant fees to repair. For a company that highlights carbon neutrality in its watches, it would be nice if Apple made a big push towards less e-waste.
Aside from just refreshing my battery for another few years, I’m also particularly keen on a chipset upgrade. The Apple Watch Ultra 1 is no slouch performance-wise, but it’s technically got the same SiP (system in package) as the Series 8, which itself has the same CPU as both the S7 and the S6.
That means, as we approach the era of Apple Intelligence and all that it requires, my Apple Watch Ultra has a CPU from 2021. For context, that’s the same year as the iPhone 13 line, which is only a couple of years away from shuffling off the iOS 26 compatible devices list.
What we know about Apple Watch Ultra 3
A new battery and a new chipset will make the Apple Watch Ultra 3 worthwhile for me, even at that price, but could there be more fun features coming?
We’re not expecting the move to a microLED display just yet, but Apple Watch Ultra 3 could see the arrival of 5G connectivity and satellite connectivity, too. Finally, it could see the debut of high blood pressure detection, which has seemingly been Apple’s ‘North Star’ for quite a few years.
Expect it to be able to detect hypertension, even if it can’t give ad hoc blood pressure readings.
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