Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs Apple Watch Ultra

Apple announced the original Apple Watch Ultra on 7 September 2022 and Ultra 2 on 12 September 2023, both at $799 in the US. A year apart, they’re nearly identical from the outside: 49 by 44 by 12mm, the same flat sapphire front over the same size screen, and 61.3 grams for the original against 61.4 for a natural-titanium Ultra 2. What changed is how bright that screen gets, the chip behind it, and which of the two Apple still updates.

Ultra 2 and the original, side by side

Spec	Apple Watch Ultra 2	Apple Watch Ultra (2022)
Announced	12 September 2023	7 September 2022
Case	49 × 44 × 12mm Grade 5 titanium	49 × 44 × 12mm titanium
Weight	61.4 g natural; 61.8 g black	61.3 g
Finishes	Natural; black	Natural titanium
Display	LTPO2, 410 × 502, 326 ppi, 1,185 sq mm	LTPO2, 410 × 502, 1,185 sq mm
Brightness	Up to 3,000 nits; 1 nit minimum	Up to 2,000 nits
Chip	S9, 4-core Neural Engine	S8; W3 wireless; U1
Storage	64GB	32GB
Battery, normal use	Up to 36 hours	Up to 36 hours
Battery, low power	Up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode	Up to 60 hours (launch figure)
Charge to about 80%	About 1 hour	Not published
Sleep app	Stages; sleep apnea notifications	Not listed
Wrist temperature	Yes	Not listed
Wrist fit	130–210mm	Not published
Siren	Yes	86 decibels
GPS	L1 and L5 dual-frequency	L1 and L5 dual-frequency
Cellular	LTE and UMTS	LTE and UMTS
Water	100m; EN13319 to 40m	100m; dive-ready to 40m
Satellite	No	No
watchOS 27	Yes	No
US launch price	$799	$799

The screen is the difference you’ll see

Both use an Always-On Retina LTPO2 OLED under flat sapphire, with a 410 × 502 grid over 1,185 square millimeters, and Ultra 2 lists 326 pixels per inch. The split is brightness. Ultra 2 peaks at 3,000 nits and can drop to 1 nit; the original peaks at 2,000 nits, which Apple called twice as bright as any Apple Watch display yet when it launched in 2022. Both are Apple’s ratings, not outdoor measurements. Ultra 2 also has Night Mode on the Modular Ultra and Wayfinder faces.

S9, double tap and twice the storage

Ultra 2’s S9 has a 64-bit dual-core processor and a 4-core Neural Engine, adds double tap, runs Siri on the watch and comes with 64GB. The original’s S8 is a 64-bit dual-core chip paired with the W3 wireless chip, the U1 ultra-wideband chip (with region limits) and 32GB. Ultra 2 moves to a second-generation ultra-wideband chip with Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.3; the original has Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and Bluetooth 5.3.

Neither has the S10 or S11 of later Ultras, or the Health Sensing System that Series 12 and Ultra 4 brought.

Battery: the same 36 hours, different low-power figures

Both are rated for up to 36 hours of normal use. Apple’s test day for Ultra 2 includes time checks, notifications, a 60-minute workout with music and some LTE, so it isn’t a promise for a weekend with a workout running the whole time.

In low power they part ways. Ultra 2 is rated for up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode. For the original, Apple quoted up to 60 hours in a low-power setting at launch and said an extra-low GPS and heart-rate setting would follow later that fall. Ultra 2 charges to about 80% in about an hour. Each box has the watch, one band and a magnetic fast charger to USB-C, one meter long on the original.

The case, the button and the dive kit they share

Both are 49mm tall, 44mm wide and 12mm thick, and the weights above leave out the band. Ultra 2 fits wrists from 130 to 210 millimeters.

Both have the customizable Action Button. On the original it’s international orange and can start workouts, mark compass waypoints, start Backtrack or open the Depth app; Ultra 2 points it at Precision Start and other functions. Both have a siren too. Apple rates the original’s at 86 decibels, with two patterns, including SOS, that can repeat for up to several hours, and said its dual speakers were 40 percent louder than Series 8’s. Both have a three-microphone array with beamforming and wind-noise reduction.

Water and dust ratings match: 100 meters under ISO 22810 and recreational dives to 40 meters, not below, plus IP6X and a list of MIL-STD-810H tests. Ultra 2 cites EN13319, a depth gauge accurate to about 1 meter, a water-temperature sensor and automatic dive-app launch at 1 meter, with Oceanic+ as a subscription. The original’s Depth app shows time, depth, water temperature, dive duration and maximum depth, and Apple named Oceanic+ from Huish Outdoors as its dive partner.

Both have L1 and L5 GPS with GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou, LTE and UMTS cellular with no 5G, Apple Pay and GymKit, and the Ultra band fitting rather than standard 22mm lugs.

Health, sleep and safety

Both have a third-generation optical heart sensor and an electrical sensor for the ECG app, with age and region limits; the ECG app isn’t a diagnosis. Blood Oxygen is a wellness feature on both. Ultra 2 also lists a wrist temperature sensor, which Apple says isn’t for medical use; for the original, Apple lists only the water-temperature sensor.

Sleep apnea notifications are the clearer gap. Ultra 2 has them, for ages 18 and up, and they look for signs of the condition rather than diagnose it. Apple lists the Sleep app with sleep stages for Ultra 2, but doesn’t list a Sleep app for the original.

Both have Emergency SOS, international emergency calling, Crash Detection and Fall Detection, and the original’s high-g accelerometer measures up to 256 g-forces. Ultra 2 also lists a Last Emergency Call waypoint and noise monitoring.

Only Ultra 2 gets watchOS 27

Ultra 2 launched on watchOS 10, and watchOS 27 supports Ultra 2 or later. The original launched on watchOS 9 and doesn’t get watchOS 27. If both turn up used at similar prices, that settles it: the 2022 watch still has the Action Button, the dive rating and dual-frequency GPS, but it’s already behind on software. Both need an iPhone; neither works with Android.

What neither gives you

Satellite SOS, Messages and Find My arrived with Ultra 3, along with a 42-hour normal-use rating. Ultra 4 went further, to 50 hours of normal use, 84 in Low Power Mode and 45 in Max Extended Workout. If satellite is what you’re missing and the newest sensors aren’t, see Ultra 3 vs Ultra 2.

What they cost

Both started at $799 in the US. The original could be ordered from 7 September 2022 and reached stores on 23 September 2022; Ultra 2 reached stores on 22 September 2023. Ultra 2 also had Apple’s carbon-neutral option with an Alpine Loop, Trail Loop or titanium Milanese Loop, with a case Apple says is 95 percent recycled titanium. Used prices depend on the seller and the finish, so check apple.com and the exact model before you buy.