Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Ultra 3 at its Awe Dropping event Tuesday, showcasing a bigger display, a faster chip and satellite connectivity.
“Apple Watch Ultra is our most advanced Apple Watch, designed to take users from sports and adventure to the rest of their life, and help them stay active, healthy, connected, and safe, wherever they are,” said Eugene Kim, Apple’s vice president of Apple Watch hardware engineering.
Apple Watch Ultra 3 launch: Brighter and better display
In 2024, Apple put the spotlight on the Apple Watch Series 10, giving it a sleeker design and a larger display, and skipped upgrading the Apple Watch Ultra 2 beyond introducing a black titanium finish. That’s not the case this year, with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 finally landing with some notable upgrades.
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 still sports the same design as its predecessors. But like last year’s Apple Watch Series 10, it uses a wide-angle OLED panel for a better off-angle viewing experience. Plus, it has 24% thinner bezels, allowing Apple to use an even bigger display — the largest ever in an Apple Watch.
The screen can also adjust its refresh rate to as low as 1Hz with always-on display enabled. This also allows the watch to update the watch face once a second, down from once a minute.
Satellite connectivity
Photo: Apple
Similar to recent iPhones, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 also gains support for emergency satellite connectivity. This will allow the watch to contact emergency services using satellites when you are outside of mobile network coverage. As the iPhone’s Emergency SOS feature has proven in recent years, this kind of addition can save lives.
Besides 5G connectivity, Apple redesigned the Apple Watch Ultra radio and antenna to double the signal stream for better signal strength.
Like the Apple Watch Series 11, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 features hypertension detection. Apple says that while the feature might not always work, it should still help millions of people change their lifestyle to lead a better one.
Apple will make hypertension available in more than 150 countries, including the United States and the European Union, this month. Sleep tracking is getting better as well, with the addition of Apple’s new Sleep Score feature.
Despite the new features, Apple Watch Ultra 3 will last longer than its predecessor, with a claimed battery life of up to 42 hours. And you can extend this to 72 hours in Low Power Mode.
Same price as before
Image: Apple
Despite tariffs and the modest upgrades, the starting price of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 remains unchanged at $799. Preorders open today, with retail availability set to begin on September 19.
You can get the Apple Watch Ultra 3 in natural and black titanium finishes.
Rajesh has been closely following and writing about the latest happenings in the world of mobile for nearly a decade now. While he prefers Android, he does not deny the superiority of Apple’s products and ecosystem.
