The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is ready for the new Siri - The Verge
Apple announced the next version of the rugged and durable Apple Watch Ultra at today’s “Surprise and shine” event. The improved health monitoring is used for a new Apple Watch Ultra 4 feature called Readiness. The new model follows the Apple Watch Ultra 3, which launched last year.
The next version of Apple’s rugged wearable comes with better battery life and new Siri features.
The next version of Apple’s rugged wearable comes with better battery life and new Siri features.
Apple announced the next version of the rugged and durable Apple Watch Ultra at today’s “Surprise and shine” event.
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 features a design that’s nearly identical to last year’s Apple Watch Ultra 3 but is powered by Apple’s new S11 processor, which replaces the aging S10 chip first introduced with the Apple Watch Series 10 in 2024. The S11 will bring some much-needed performance improvements to the Ultra 4 ahead of Apple’s upcoming watchOS 27 release that will include the smarter and more capable Siri AI assistant announced at Apple’s annual WWDC earlier this year.
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 features new optical and electrical heart sensors for better EKG measurements alongside larger and more power-efficient green LEDs, allowing for more accurate heart rate measurements all day long and during physical activities. The improved energy efficiency allows the Ultra 4 to take heart rate readings up to 60 times more frequently than previous models at 5-second intervals. Heart rate variability measurements, a metric that provides insights about how your body responds to stress and recovery, can now be taken every five minutes.
The improved health monitoring is used for a new Apple Watch Ultra 4 feature called Readiness. By analyzing your recent activity, health metrics, and the quality of your sleep, the Ultra 4 will provide a score from 0 to 10 along with a recommendation about how you should tackle the day including recover, pace yourself, ready, or go for it.
Taking advantage of the Ultra 4’s additional processing power for AI tasks, the Siri Apple Watch app is getting several new features Apple is calling Audio Intelligence. Sound Recognition listens for important sounds like sirens, alarms, doorbells, and crying and will alert users who are deaf or hard of hearing when they’re detected, without the need for their iPhone nearby.
Live Rewind will help users remember what was recently said while speaking to someone in person. Double-pressing the Ultra 4’s Digital Crown shows the last 15 seconds of a conversation as a snippet of text for clarification, but users can also ask Siri for more context on what was said or save it for later in the Siri app. Siri Recap can monitor and generate high-level summaries of conversations, including a title and key points that are accessible later. For privacy reasons, the feature can be scheduled to run all day long or limited to work hours. Recap will be available in beta later this year with support for English, while support for additional languages will follow.
Apple says the new Audio Intelligence features do not generate or store audio recordings. The raw audio that’s captured by the Ultra 4’s microphone is securely processed in the S11 chip’s Secure Exclave that’s isolated from the rest of the Watch’s hardware. Once processed, the audio is immediately deleted and is never made accessible to the rest of watchOS, other apps, or even Apple itself. The Audio Intelligence features do not identify or attribute anything that was said to specific people speaking, while the summaries that are generated exclude “sensitive information like financial information or government-assigned identifiers.” Live Rewind even plays an audible chime so others around it know it’s in use.
Battery life has been improved to more than two days of use, or up to 50 hours, which is a significant improvement over the Ultra 3. In Low Power Mode, the Ultra 4 can go for up to 84 hours before needing a charge. A new Extended Workout mode provides up to 25 hours of battery life with GPS tracking and continuous heart rate readings, while an Max Extended Workout mode allows the Ultra 4 to track outdoor activities like runs, walks, and hikes for up to 45 hours.
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is available for preorder starting today in natural and black titanium color options in the US, Canada, the UK, and more than 50 additional countries with in-store availability starting on September 18th. Pricing starts at $799 for the entry-level model, but this year, Apple is introducing a new premium model called the Apple Watch Hermès Ultra 4 featuring a natural titanium finish. The Hermès option can be purchased with a Grand H titanium band featuring a built-in extension for wearing the Watch over wet suits for $3,149. If you opt for its simpler Scub’H Diving or En Mer bands made of rubber, the Hermès’ price starts at $1,499.
The new model follows the Apple Watch Ultra 3, which launched last year. That Watch debuted with upgrades including improved battery life, support for 5G networks on the cellular model, satellite-based messaging and emergency calling, and a slightly larger display thanks to a slimmed bezel.