Second Generation Apple Watch Ultra 2: Same watch with some new tricks
The rugged watch, Apple Watch Ultra 2 comes with a new Apple Silicone and brighter display… that is about it. Like the Apple Watch Series 9, an evolutionary upgrade to Series 8, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is also an evolutionary upgrade with no outstanding features. It a same watch but with some new tricks. What are these tricks? Read on to find out.
What are these tricks?
We already established that the 2nd generation Apple Watch Ultra 2 looks exactly the same down to the case size and material. It also packs all the same sensors and buttons. In fact, even the Intrusion Protection (IP) levels are the same (IP6X) dust resistant. The watch is up to 100m water resistance, up to 40m recreational diving and MIL-STD 810H compliant. The latter tests against altitude, high and low temperature, temperature shock, immersion, freeze with thaw, ice and freezing rain, shock and vibration. In even shares the same connectivity functions with LTE, UMTS and Bluetooth 5.3. In short, you can hardly notice the difference using the two for day to day applications.
So why introduce a new generation Apple Watch Ultra 2? Here is a summary of the new tricks, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is ‘taught’ to do:
- Faster and more powerful processor
- Brighter display with no penalty on the battery life.
- Better precision Find My and related applications
- Gesture control and On-device Siri
- Double the onboard storage
1. Faster and More Powerful Processor
A year after the introduction of Apple’s first rugged watch in 2022, a second iteration appears alongside Apple Watch Series 9 in 2023. Known simply as Apple Watch Ultra 2, the watch shares the same silicone, the Apple S9 dual core processor with W3 wireless chip and second generation Ultra Wideband chip. More on this later. It is an upgrade from Apple S8 on the first generation Apple Watch Ultra.
The S9 custom chip has 5.6 billion transistors, 60% more than the Apple S8 chip in the first gen Apple Watch Ultra. It also has a new four-core Neural Engine for up to twice the gain in speed in processing machine learning tasks.
2. Brighter Display with No Penalty on the Battery Life
Not only is the display bigger than the standard Apple Watch at 49mm it is also brighter. When it comes to the Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display, Apple employs a step wise upgrade by controlling the brightness. Starting with a peak of 1000 nits brightness on the Apple Watch Series 8, this goes up to 2000 nits on the Apple Watch Series 9. The first generation Apple Watch Ultra however peaks at 2000 nits while the new Apple Watch Ultra 2 can go up to 3000nits. Needless to say the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the brightness Apple Watch there is.
Brighter is indeed better but that usually comes at a price of shorter battery life. Not the case with the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Even with the brighter display, you still get up to 36 hours of normal use or up to 72 hours of normal use with low power settings enabled which is up to 3 days. But heavy users especially those who use their watch for workouts will be disappointed as it will only last up to 17 hours even in Low Power Mode.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 even has an automatic dark mode that helps save even more battery plus the display can go as low as 1 nit brightness, useful for when you are in the theatre.
Search Apple Watch Ultra 2 on Amazon
3. Better Precision “Find My” and Related Applications
That Ultra Widebank chip brings with it a few notable features namely the ability to track and find your iPhone with better accuracy and when in proximity to the Apple HomePod, Apple’s smart speaker, you can use the watch to control the tracks currently playing there or access recommended tracks to play on the device. This is akin to “Now Playing” when you stream on your iPhone but for a standalone smart speaker.
4. Gesture Control and On-device Siri
Taking advantage of the extra processing cycle are two new features, double tap gesture and on-device Siri. We can say for sure why Apple decides to attribute double tap with the Apple S9 chip. I would have thought that this is more of a sensor thing. In any case, we are convinced that having 5.6 billion transistors and the four-core Neural Engine will definitely help with on-device Siri.
The simple double tap gesture performed with your index finger and thumb lets you pull off certain tasks without touching the watch. Things like answers incoming calls, pause and resume timers and respond to a message which is pretty neat. Then there is on-device Siri. This allows Siri commands to be processed locally without relying on the cloud. Access and control compatible apps with nothing but your voice. Plus, it can access
5. Double the Onboard Storage
For the first time in Apple Watch history, Apple has decided to give the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9 a whooping 64GB of onboard storage. This is double the 32GB on the first generation Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Series 9. Apple stuck with 32GB of storage since Apple Watch Series 5 and Apple Watch SE (1st gen). What does it mean for the watch. With more storage comes the ability to load more apps. It also means if supported by the app, it is possible to carry more media such as photos, music, audiobooks and podcasts.
In case you are wondering, here is how to pair a Bluetooth headphone or speaker with your Apple Watch.
Apple Watch Ultra vs Apple Watch Ultra 2
See Side-by-side Feature Comparison Below:
| Apple Watch Ultra 2 Introduced 2022 |
Apple Watch Ultra Introduced 2023 |
| 49mm case | 49mm case |
| Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display, up to 3000 nits | Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display, up to 2000 nits |
| Flat sapphire crystal display | Flat sapphire crystal display |
| GPS + Cellular model | GPS + Cellular model |
| S9 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor; W3 wireless chip; second-generation Ultra Wideband chip | S8 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor; W3 wireless chip; U1 chip (Ultra Wideband) |
| Digital Crown with haptic feedback; side button; Action button; double tap gesture; on-device Siri | Digital Crown with haptic feedback; side button; Action button; Siri |
| Temperature sensor; electrical heart sensor and third-generation optical heart sensor; depth gauge; water temperature sensor | Temperature sensor; electrical heart sensor and third-generation optical heart sensor; depth gauge; water temperature sensor |
| High and low heart rate notifications, irregular rhythm notification, and ECG app; sleep stages | High and low heart rate notifications, irregular rhythm notification, and ECG app; sleep stages |
| International emergency calling, Emergency SOS, Crash Detection, and Fall Detection; Siren | International emergency calling, Emergency SOS, Crash Detection, and Fall Detection; Siren |
| Water resistant 100 meters | Water resistant 100 meters |
| Recreational dive to 40 meters | Recreational dive to 40 meters |
| EN13319 and tested with MIL-STD 810H | EN13319 and tested with MIL-STD 810H |
| Dust resistant (IP6X) | Dust resistant (IP6X) |
| LTE and UMTS,12 Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n), and Bluetooth 5.3 | LTE and UMTS,12 Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n), and Bluetooth 5.3 |
| GPS/GNSS, compass, and always-on altimeter | GPS/GNSS, compass, and always-on altimeter |
| Dual speakers and three-mic array with beamforming | Dual speakers and three-mic array with beamforming |
| 64GB capacity | 32GB capacity |
| Fast charge time | Fast charge time |
