Apple may call it Ultra but it’s by no mean a Pro watch. There’s still a world of difference between what the Apple Watch is able to do to support more extreme sports and activities and a true Pro watch such as a Garmin Fénix 7 or even an Amazfit T-Rex 2. And I’m saying this as a very, very long and passionate Apple user that already owned two Apple watches. The “Ultra” industrial design is only slightly better than the original design in dealing with impacts but it’s still far from the robustness that you need with a Pro watch. Sturdiness is not only about the materials used but also about the form. Battery life is another detail that is so far from what you can currently get on a Garmin or Amazfit top of the line watches (which can last for at least two weeks).
I realize that there are still extreme applications that the Apple Watch Ultra might not be applicable for. The T-Rex 2 is a far more cost effective solution ($299) and since it's not really a proper smart watch, it can last a lot longer. A more apt comparison would be the Garmin watch. That costs $699 and has a host of extreme sports features, some that the Apple Watch Ultra can do, some of which are still exclusive to that device. And the Garmin can do limited recharge via solar cells in the design, a useful feature.
But for me, the biggest "Holy Crap" moment was that they went ahead and built a proper dive computer watch. As someone who has been scuba diving for 25 years and my wife and teenage daughter also dive, this is a game changer. I've been looking to buy a new dive computer to replace one I've been carrying for two decades. I think I finally have the one I want. But there are some questions I have. Will it account for Nitrox or Tri-ox diving? Can you attach a radio control to determine the amount of air in your tanks (some of the better dive computers have this)? And I'm sure some more frequent dive masters and instructors will have more questions. I just got a Series 7 a year ago, so my watch isn't old. But one with a dive computer may be too good to pass up, especially since that's the amount of money I was looking to spend anyway.
Allow me to correct you. Both the T-Rex 2 and Garmin Fenix 7 are proper smart watches, fully compatible with the iPhone, and whose main limitations such as replying a message are mostly imposed by Apple. And regarding sport activities both watches offer way more features and sports than the Apple Watch. I still love the overall experience of the Apple Watch but after two cracked Apple Watch screens damaged by ridiculous scenarios such has fallen from a table to the ground or having the screen completely separating from the body if it has been laser cut, without Apple doing nothing to solve the problem, I seriously doubt of the robustness of the Apple Watch Design. You can attest how wrong the industrial design of the Apple Watch is when you start to look at the thousands of protective cases for it being sold at Amazon.
Nice... but is it still useless if a drop of water gets on the display? Using my Apple Watch in the pool, or running and sweat gets on it, renders it unusable.
Are you using Series 1? Or was this your attempt at sarcasm?
Series 4.
Ending a pool swim is all but impossible. I can get the water to eject, but can't tap "End workout" because... watch is wet? I have to wait to get out of pool and dry it off. By that time maybe 30 seconds to a minute at least has passed, so my swim workouts are never accurate.
And this thing is geared toward extreme workouts, so hopefully it can handle some water, or snow, on the watch face without it being unusable.
You push the digital crown and the button below it at the same time to pause the swim workout, then you can dry the face and end the workout.
Apple may call it Ultra but it’s by no mean a Pro watch. There’s still a world of difference between what the Apple Watch is able to do to support more extreme sports and activities and a true Pro watch such as a Garmin Fénix 7 or even an Amazfit T-Rex 2. And I’m saying this as a very, very long and passionate Apple user that already owned two Apple watches. The “Ultra” industrial design is only slightly better than the original design in dealing with impacts but it’s still far from the robustness that you need with a Pro watch. Sturdiness is not only about the materials used but also about the form. Battery life is another detail that is so far from what you can currently get on a Garmin or Amazfit top of the line watches (which can last for at least two weeks).
I realize that there are still extreme applications that the Apple Watch Ultra might not be applicable for. The T-Rex 2 is a far more cost effective solution ($299) and since it's not really a proper smart watch, it can last a lot longer. A more apt comparison would be the Garmin watch. That costs $699 and has a host of extreme sports features, some that the Apple Watch Ultra can do, some of which are still exclusive to that device. And the Garmin can do limited recharge via solar cells in the design, a useful feature.
But for me, the biggest "Holy Crap" moment was that they went ahead and built a proper dive computer watch. As someone who has been scuba diving for 25 years and my wife and teenage daughter also dive, this is a game changer. I've been looking to buy a new dive computer to replace one I've been carrying for two decades. I think I finally have the one I want. But there are some questions I have. Will it account for Nitrox or Tri-ox diving? Can you attach a radio control to determine the amount of air in your tanks (some of the better dive computers have this)? And I'm sure some more frequent dive masters and instructors will have more questions. I just got a Series 7 a year ago, so my watch isn't old. But one with a dive computer may be too good to pass up, especially since that's the amount of money I was looking to spend anyway.
Allow me to correct you. Both the T-Rex 2 and Garmin Fenix 7 are proper smart watches, fully compatible with the iPhone, and whose main limitations such as replying a message are mostly imposed by Apple. And regarding sport activities both watches offer way more features and sports than the Apple Watch. I still love the overall experience of the Apple Watch but after two cracked Apple Watch screens damaged by ridiculous scenarios such has fallen from a table to the ground or having the screen completely separating from the body if it has been laser cut, without Apple doing nothing to solve the problem, I seriously doubt of the robustness of the Apple Watch Design. You can attest how wrong the industrial design of the Apple Watch is when you start to look at the thousands of protective cases for it being sold at Amazon.
I do triathlon and for my decade plus of doing so I mostly used Garmin watches (as well as cycling computer and power meter). I have phased out my use of Garmin stuff and gave up the final watch in 2019. The Apple Watch has yet to hit parity with the Garmin watches but has narrowed the gap. Being able to do custom workouts in the upcoming WatchOS is going to be a huge step in closing the gap on my wishlist. I think I am down to just wanting power meter support for the bike. Anyway the point is I agree that the Apple Watch doesn't do everything that Garmin does. I think "way more" is over stating it but that is a minor quibble. So why did I give up Garmin? The answer is pretty easy, their software is sh!t and is only getting worse. I got tired of fighting with the watches to get them to work properly. I got tired of randomly waiting up to 20 minus for GPS to connect. I got tired of watches randomly rebooting mid workout. I got tired of poorly designed interfaces. Do you remember when Garmin Connect got hacked and we all lost the cloud based features for days? My right Vector pedal would randomly disconnect and I'd lose power data..... the list just goes on. Garmin is great a great feature list on paper but their products are just crap and were inexplicably getting worse. I'll the take the lessor device that actually works. Working might be the most important "Pro" feature.
Apple may call it Ultra but it’s by no mean a Pro watch. There’s still a world of difference between what the Apple Watch is able to do to support more extreme sports and activities and a true Pro watch such as a Garmin Fénix 7 or even an Amazfit T-Rex 2. And I’m saying this as a very, very long and passionate Apple user that already owned two Apple watches. The “Ultra” industrial design is only slightly better than the original design in dealing with impacts but it’s still far from the robustness that you need with a Pro watch. Sturdiness is not only about the materials used but also about the form. Battery life is another detail that is so far from what you can currently get on a Garmin or Amazfit top of the line watches (which can last for at least two weeks).
"There’s still a world of difference between what the Apple Watch is able to do to support more extreme sports and activities and a true Pro watch such as a Garmin Fénix 7 or even an Amazfit T-Rex 2." YOU'RE SO RIGHT--A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. THE ULTRA PUTS ALMOST THE FULL CAPABILITIES OF AN IPHONE ON YOUR WRIST AND THE FENIX 7 CAN, UMMM, PLAY MUSIC. AS FAR AS APPS SUPPORTING EXTREME SPORTS, GARMIN MAY HAVE THE LEAD FOR NOW AS IT SHOULD AFTER YEARS IN THE BUSINESS, BUT APPLE IS JUST GETTING STARTED AND WILL CONTINUE TO ROLL OUT MORE FOR THE ULTRA.
"The “Ultra” industrial design is only slightly better than the original design in dealing with impacts but it’s still far from the robustness that you need with a Pro watch." AND THIS IS BASED ON THE VAST EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE WITH THE ULTRA FROM WATCHING THE APPLE LIVESTREAM.
"Sturdiness is not only about the materials used but also about the form." OH YES... THE FENIX 7'S TOUCHSCREEN MUST BE FAR MORE DURABLE AND ABUSABLE THAN THE ULTRA'S SLAB OF SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL.
Allow me say that you are misinformed about the smartwatch capabilities of a Pro Garmin or Amazfit T-Rex watches. Most of their limitations when paired to an iPhone are mostly due to the garden wall created by Apple. Being profoundly passionate by Apple, its products and its design, and I’m an Apple user since 1991, doesn’t mean that you should blindly accept everything that they sell you. Apple design history is made of countless master pieces of Design but also has several drawbacks… which is fine and part of an evolutionary process. My experience commenting the new Apple Watch design is based on my experience as an Apple Watch user, as a Pro watch user and also based on my 28 years of experience as a product designer where I got to know a couple of things about materials and form. Believe me when I say that I sincerely hope they got the robustness of the Apple Watch design right this time. Let’s see how many protective cases for the Apple Watch Ultra will emerge in the coming months.
Very surprised in a good way about the AW Ultra price considering what it delivers and quality of materials. It's not inexpensive, but I think it's a relative bargain for what it is and what it does compared to the other Apple Watches in the lineup.
Truth be told, or at least based on their marketing pitch, I'd feel kind of guilty wearing one without having the slightest inclination to climb a mountain, run a marathon, or scuba dive. But I suppose seeing the plethora of jacked-up pickup trucks, jeeps, and SUVs with 36" wheels, brush guards, and million lumen light bars that'll never see harsher duty than getting safely over the speed bumps in a McDonalds drive-through, I can probably follow their lead and convince myself that I'm worthy of strapping one of these big boys to my wrist without engaging in much of any death defying activities, besides the health risks associated with the McDonald's drive through. Did I mention that I do watch the Discovery Channel and my neighbor has a pool. I may get lost in my backyard, fall into the neighbor's pool, and forget to stand up above the 48" water level. What the heck, simply having the ability to activate the watch's 80 decibel siren would be incredibly satisfying and nearly worth the full purchase price. Wonder if the siren can be used as an Alarm sound?
Seriously though, the AW Ultra is super impressive. It may be overkill for a lot of folks, but the battery life alone and relative affordability will put it on a lot of wrists that aren't exactly the outdoorsy type depicted in Apple's launch presentation.
Apple: OMG It’s totally brand new!! Shows same product with new price. It can go under water….deeper.
Anyone else find it creepy that they keep shooting these videos on a massive beautiful campus….. that has no active employees using any background facilities? ߑ리t;/div>
It’s pretty comical now. They’re using the same b-roll footage as the AR backdrop; clearly these were shot during the height of the pandemic when the campus was closed.
Worse the landscape foliage is clearly vernal, not the parched reality of drought ravaged California in early September 2022. The footage was probably shot in spring 2021.
I spend at least half of the time watching these canned “keynotes” laughing at the incongruities. Slickly produced but still blatantly fake. They’re a little better now that Apple has been doing these for 2.5+ years.
I ordered the Ultra watch, but already it’s at October 20th earliest. I had some odd problem with Apple Pay, which wanted to buy it with Apple Cash, which I don’t have since I buy with my Amex card, which wasn’t enabled oddly. I had to go and fill in the security code. But it still did t recognize it, so I had to buy it without Apple Pay directly through the Amex card, which Apple does have on file. That wasted several minutes. Darn! When I first tried to order it was early October. I lost almost two weeks because of that snafu.
I really could have used the when I was scuba diving. My Omega was nice for the time, but it did t tell you much.
I ordered Ultra at least an hour+ after store accepted preorders and my receipt says 9/23 delivery, so maybe watch band option is delaying yours? (I ordered midnight “Ocean.”)
Nice... but is it still useless if a drop of water gets on the display? Using my Apple Watch in the pool, or running and sweat gets on it, renders it unusable.
My SO has been using her 6 in the pool every morning without any problem for almost two years now.
Apple may call it Ultra but it’s by no mean a Pro watch. There’s still a world of difference between what the Apple Watch is able to do to support more extreme sports and activities and a true Pro watch such as a Garmin Fénix 7 or even an Amazfit T-Rex 2. And I’m saying this as a very, very long and passionate Apple user that already owned two Apple watches. The “Ultra” industrial design is only slightly better than the original design in dealing with impacts but it’s still far from the robustness that you need with a Pro watch. Sturdiness is not only about the materials used but also about the form. Battery life is another detail that is so far from what you can currently get on a Garmin or Amazfit top of the line watches (which can last for at least two weeks).
I realize that there are still extreme applications that the Apple Watch Ultra might not be applicable for. The T-Rex 2 is a far more cost effective solution ($299) and since it's not really a proper smart watch, it can last a lot longer. A more apt comparison would be the Garmin watch. That costs $699 and has a host of extreme sports features, some that the Apple Watch Ultra can do, some of which are still exclusive to that device. And the Garmin can do limited recharge via solar cells in the design, a useful feature.
But for me, the biggest "Holy Crap" moment was that they went ahead and built a proper dive computer watch. As someone who has been scuba diving for 25 years and my wife and teenage daughter also dive, this is a game changer. I've been looking to buy a new dive computer to replace one I've been carrying for two decades. I think I finally have the one I want. But there are some questions I have. Will it account for Nitrox or Tri-ox diving? Can you attach a radio control to determine the amount of air in your tanks (some of the better dive computers have this)? And I'm sure some more frequent dive masters and instructors will have more questions. I just got a Series 7 a year ago, so my watch isn't old. But one with a dive computer may be too good to pass up, especially since that's the amount of money I was looking to spend anyway.
I still love the overall experience of the Apple Watch but after two cracked Apple Watch screens damaged by ridiculous scenarios such has fallen from a table to the ground or having the screen completely separating from the body if it has been laser cut, without Apple doing nothing to solve the problem, I seriously doubt of the robustness of the Apple Watch Design. You can attest how wrong the industrial design of the Apple Watch is when you start to look at the thousands of protective cases for it being sold at Amazon.
Nah people buy all sorts of things, doesn't mean they're necessary. I've never ever, and would never, wear a case on my Watch, going back to the Series 0. No issues. There is no inherent design flaw.
Apple: OMG It’s totally brand new!! Shows same product with new price. It can go under water….deeper.
Anyone else find it creepy that they keep shooting these videos on a massive beautiful campus….. that has no active employees using any background facilities? ߑ리t;/div>
It’s pretty comical now. They’re using the same b-roll footage as the AR backdrop; clearly these were shot during the height of the pandemic when the campus was closed.
Worse the landscape foliage is clearly vernal, not the parched reality of drought ravaged California in early September 2022. The footage was probably shot in spring 2021.
I spend at least half of the time watching these canned “keynotes” laughing at the incongruities. Slickly produced but still blatantly fake. They’re a little better now that Apple has been doing these for 2.5+ years.
Whatever you need to make yourself feel special, I suppose. Here IRL nobody cares about how old the background footage is.
Apple: OMG It’s totally brand new!! Shows same product with new price. It can go under water….deeper.
Anyone else find it creepy that they keep shooting these videos on a massive beautiful campus….. that has no active employees using any background facilities? ߑ리t;/div>
It’s pretty comical now. They’re using the same b-roll footage as the AR backdrop; clearly these were shot during the height of the pandemic when the campus was closed.
Worse the landscape foliage is clearly vernal, not the parched reality of drought ravaged California in early September 2022. The footage was probably shot in spring 2021.
I spend at least half of the time watching these canned “keynotes” laughing at the incongruities. Slickly produced but still blatantly fake. They’re a little better now that Apple has been doing these for 2.5+ years.
Here IRL nobody cares about how old the background footage is.
Actually whoever produced the video does. And so does Apple senior management who gave the final stamp of approval.
They deliberately chose comically out of season ghost town footage instead more recent recordings that actually might have included *gasp* human beings. You know the ones they ordered back onsite three days a week.
Maybe Apple’s ideal is a post-apocalyptic lush green planet free of pesky Homo sapiens, or at least locked out of sight below decks to pull the oars.
Apple: OMG It’s totally brand new!! Shows same product with new price. It can go under water….deeper.
Anyone else find it creepy that they keep shooting these videos on a massive beautiful campus….. that has no active employees using any background facilities? ߑ리t;/div>
It’s pretty comical now. They’re using the same b-roll footage as the AR backdrop; clearly these were shot during the height of the pandemic when the campus was closed.
Worse the landscape foliage is clearly vernal, not the parched reality of drought ravaged California in early September 2022. The footage was probably shot in spring 2021.
I spend at least half of the time watching these canned “keynotes” laughing at the incongruities. Slickly produced but still blatantly fake. They’re a little better now that Apple has been doing these for 2.5+ years.
Whatever you need to make yourself feel special, I suppose. Here IRL nobody cares about how old the background footage is.
Actually whoever produced the video does. And so does Apple senior management who gave the final stamp of approval.
They deliberately chose comically out of season ghost town footage instead more recent recordings that actually might have included human beings. You know the ones they ordered back onsite three days a week.
Maybe Apple’s ideal is a post-apocalyptic lush green planet free of pesky Homo sapiens.
Not as comical as you seemingly not knowing what b roll is.
Got mine ordered Titanium with Green Alpine Loop. I really wish Apple would just let us pick out a band instead of bundling one you do not want with them.
To be honest, I was more interested in the watches this time than the phones. Cell phones are a pretty mature market now and there is no real advantage with a 14 Pro over a 13 Pro. The watches are still developing and I was planning on moving from a WiFi Series 7 to one with its own cell radio. With the military/veteran discount the Cellular watch is only $719, so I went ahead and got the Ultra.
So this cycle I am keeping my iPhone 13 pro and upgrading my watch to the ultra. Now just waiting for the next generation of iPad Pro.
After furious rumors and leaks for the last week, Apple has launched the new Apple Watch Pro, a supersized and rugged version focused on extreme activities.
Did they? Come on AI, I don't normally comment on this stuff but do you not proof anything at all now? It really detracts from the quality of the site.
Apple may call it Ultra but it’s by no mean a Pro watch. There’s still a world of difference between what the Apple Watch is able to do to support more extreme sports and activities and a true Pro watch such as a Garmin Fénix 7 or even an Amazfit T-Rex 2. And I’m saying this as a very, very long and passionate Apple user that already owned two Apple watches. The “Ultra” industrial design is only slightly better than the original design in dealing with impacts but it’s still far from the robustness that you need with a Pro watch. Sturdiness is not only about the materials used but also about the form. Battery life is another detail that is so far from what you can currently get on a Garmin or Amazfit top of the line watches (which can last for at least two weeks).
I realize that there are still extreme applications that the Apple Watch Ultra might not be applicable for. The T-Rex 2 is a far more cost effective solution ($299) and since it's not really a proper smart watch, it can last a lot longer. A more apt comparison would be the Garmin watch. That costs $699 and has a host of extreme sports features, some that the Apple Watch Ultra can do, some of which are still exclusive to that device. And the Garmin can do limited recharge via solar cells in the design, a useful feature.
But for me, the biggest "Holy Crap" moment was that they went ahead and built a proper dive computer watch. As someone who has been scuba diving for 25 years and my wife and teenage daughter also dive, this is a game changer. I've been looking to buy a new dive computer to replace one I've been carrying for two decades. I think I finally have the one I want. But there are some questions I have. Will it account for Nitrox or Tri-ox diving? Can you attach a radio control to determine the amount of air in your tanks (some of the better dive computers have this)? And I'm sure some more frequent dive masters and instructors will have more questions. I just got a Series 7 a year ago, so my watch isn't old. But one with a dive computer may be too good to pass up, especially since that's the amount of money I was looking to spend anyway.
This is going to be more competitive to the higher Garmin. They go to $1,000, and are the most popular smartwatch/fitness device over $500. Since most divers don’t use Nitrox or Tri-ox, I don’t think Apple is thinking about that. I haven’t dived for years, but this should serve for most divers.
In the keynote video while they were showing the watch during a dive, the display showed "Dive - Air" which to me implies that alternate O2 selections are available which I would think includes different O2 variations. If it didn't, then there would be no need to display "Dive - Air" if "air" was the only option.
I'm a scuba instructor (20+ years) and if this has the option of wireless air integration then many of us divers will go the Apple route. As Oceanic was involved, their official response on that subject in their support forum was "not at the moment". I think Oceanic has a transmitter that is compatible with the Ultra and is just waiting for the right time to drop that bomb.
I bet the first thing in the morning all the executives at the other dive manufacturers are going to be in meeting rooms saying "WTF"? This is huge in the diving industry. I'm seriously excited to see where this goes.
Comments
I still love the overall experience of the Apple Watch but after two cracked Apple Watch screens damaged by ridiculous scenarios such has fallen from a table to the ground or having the screen completely separating from the body if it has been laser cut, without Apple doing nothing to solve the problem, I seriously doubt of the robustness of the Apple Watch Design. You can attest how wrong the industrial design of the Apple Watch is when you start to look at the thousands of protective cases for it being sold at Amazon.
Being profoundly passionate by Apple, its products and its design, and I’m an Apple user since 1991, doesn’t mean that you should blindly accept everything that they sell you. Apple design history is made of countless master pieces of Design but also has several drawbacks… which is fine and part of an evolutionary process.
My experience commenting the new Apple Watch design is based on my experience as an Apple Watch user, as a Pro watch user and also based on my 28 years of experience as a product designer where I got to know a couple of things about materials and form.
Believe me when I say that I sincerely hope they got the robustness of the Apple Watch design right this time. Let’s see how many protective cases for the Apple Watch Ultra will emerge in the coming months.
Truth be told, or at least based on their marketing pitch, I'd feel kind of guilty wearing one without having the slightest inclination to climb a mountain, run a marathon, or scuba dive. But I suppose seeing the plethora of jacked-up pickup trucks, jeeps, and SUVs with 36" wheels, brush guards, and million lumen light bars that'll never see harsher duty than getting safely over the speed bumps in a McDonalds drive-through, I can probably follow their lead and convince myself that I'm worthy of strapping one of these big boys to my wrist without engaging in much of any death defying activities, besides the health risks associated with the McDonald's drive through. Did I mention that I do watch the Discovery Channel and my neighbor has a pool. I may get lost in my backyard, fall into the neighbor's pool, and forget to stand up above the 48" water level. What the heck, simply having the ability to activate the watch's 80 decibel siren would be incredibly satisfying and nearly worth the full purchase price. Wonder if the siren can be used as an Alarm sound?
Seriously though, the AW Ultra is super impressive. It may be overkill for a lot of folks, but the battery life alone and relative affordability will put it on a lot of wrists that aren't exactly the outdoorsy type depicted in Apple's launch presentation.
Worse the landscape foliage is clearly vernal, not the parched reality of drought ravaged California in early September 2022. The footage was probably shot in spring 2021.
I spend at least half of the time watching these canned “keynotes” laughing at the incongruities. Slickly produced but still blatantly fake. They’re a little better now that Apple has been doing these for 2.5+ years.
Isn't it incredible that the majority of us think $799 is a "deal".
Especially, since I had stopped wearing a watch for years until the Apple Watch 3 was released.
The production values are great. Their choice of source material is hilarious though. And these AR productions are still weird and unsettling.
Anyhow I enjoyed watching this presentation. Ever since the pandemic these canned productions bring an added level of amusement.
I really wish Apple would just let us pick out a band instead of bundling one you do not want with them.
To be honest, I was more interested in the watches this time than the phones. Cell phones are a pretty mature market now and there is no real advantage with a 14 Pro over a 13 Pro. The watches are still developing and I was planning on moving from a WiFi Series 7 to one with its own cell radio. With the military/veteran discount the Cellular watch is only $719, so I went ahead and got the Ultra.
So this cycle I am keeping my iPhone 13 pro and upgrading my watch to the ultra. Now just waiting for the next generation of iPad Pro.