Apple Watch Ultra

Apple took orders for the first Ultra on 7 September 2022 and put it in stores on 23 September 2022, at $799. Three more Ultras have followed at the same price, each with something the original lacks.

What later Ultras added

Spec	Ultra 1	Ultra 2	Ultra 3	Ultra 4
Screen	410 × 502 LTPO2, 2,000 nits	410 × 502 LTPO2, 3,000 nits	422 × 514 LTPO3, 3,000 nits	422 × 514 LTPO3, 3,000 nits
Chip	S8	S9	S10	S11
Storage	32GB	64GB	64GB	64GB
Normal use	Up to 36 hours	Up to 36 hours	Up to 42 hours	Up to 50 hours
Low power	Up to 60 hours (low-power setting)	Up to 72 hours	Up to 72 hours	Up to 84 hours
Satellite	No	No	Yes	Yes
Health Sensing System	No	No	No	Yes
watchOS 27	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
US launch price	$799 (2022)	$799 (2023)	$799 (2025)	$799 (2026)

Each step changed something you’d notice. Ultra 2 kept the screen grid but raised the peak to 3,000 nits and doubled the storage to 64GB. Ultra 3 brought satellite and a 422 × 514 LTPO3 screen, with 42 hours of battery. Ultra 4 added the Health Sensing System and up to 50 hours of battery. If an Ultra 2 costs close to the same as an original, take the Ultra 2: it still gets watchOS 27.

Ultra 2 vs Ultra 1, Ultra 3 vs Ultra 1 and Ultra 4 vs Ultra 1 cover each step.

The screen

The Always-On LTPO2 Retina screen peaks at 2,000 nits, which Apple called 2x brighter than any Apple Watch display before it. It’s 410 × 502 pixels with 1,185 sq mm of active area, under a flat sapphire crystal that raised titanium edges protect from knocks. Ultra 2 kept the grid and went to 3,000 nits; Ultra 3 and Ultra 4 moved to 422 × 514 LTPO3 panels.

Battery and charging

Mode	Ultra 1
Normal use	Up to 36 hours
LTE	Up to 18 hours
Low-power setting	Up to 60 hours
GPS workouts	Not published
Charging time	Not published

The 36 and 18-hour figures are Apple’s ratings for the watch. The 60 hours comes from Apple’s 2022 announcement, which said a low-power setting that reads GPS and heart rate less often would arrive later that fall. For comparison, Ultra 2’s Low Power Mode is rated for 72 hours, and Ultra 4 has GPS workout ratings of 18, 25 and 45 hours. The Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C cable (1m) comes in the box.

Health

The original Ultra has a third-generation optical heart sensor and an electrical heart sensor for the ECG app and irregular rhythm notifications, plus Blood Oxygen and a water temperature sensor for diving. It doesn’t have the Health Sensing System, and Apple’s sleep apnea notifications start with Ultra 2 and Series 9.

The outdoor kit it introduced

• Action Button: the high-contrast orange button starts workouts, drops Compass Waypoints, runs Backtrack or opens the Depth app.
• Siren: 86 decibels, with two alternating patterns, including SOS, that can repeat for up to several hours.
• Diving: dive-ready to 40m (130 feet) with a compatible App Store app, and Oceanic+ from Huish Outdoors was the launch partner. It’s water resistant to 100m (WR100 under ISO 22810), but not for dives below 40m.
• Toughness: IP6X dust protection, and MIL-STD-810H testing for altitude, heat and cold, temperature shock, immersion, freeze and thaw, shock and vibration.
• Sensors and sound: a high-g accelerometer rated to 256 g-forces for Fall and Crash Detection, dual speakers Apple says are 40% louder than Series 8, and three microphones with beamforming and wind-noise mitigation.

Software, iPhone and connectivity

The original Ultra launched with watchOS 9. Every model is GPS + Cellular, with LTE and UMTS and international roaming, plus Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz, Bluetooth 5.3, the W3 wireless chip and a U1 Ultra Wideband chip. Apple Pay and GymKit are built in.

Price and what’s in the box

The original Ultra launched at $799 in the US, and Ultra 2, Ultra 3 and Ultra 4 all launched at the same price, so it only makes sense well below that. Prices on a 2022 watch move, so check before you buy.

The box has the watch, a band (which one depends on the configuration) and the Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C cable (1m). Bands use the Ultra fitting, not a standard 22mm quick-release.