Apple just unveiled the Apple Watch Ultra 4 as its next sports and adventure watch. The titanium case still looks familiar. However, Apple rebuilt the sensors, the S11 chip, and the battery around longer days and denser health data.
Meanwhile, pre-orders open today in the United States and more than 50 other countries. Stores then get the watch on Friday, September 18. Additionally, Apple still prices Ultra 4 at 799 dollars, the same as last year’s flagship.
Health Sensing System tracks heart rate all day
Apple calls the new Health Sensing System the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable. It pairs new optical and electrical sensors with larger green LEDs. As a result, Ultra 4 measures heart rate every five seconds, all day.
That is 60 times more frequent than Ultra 3, according to Apple. Meanwhile, heart rate variability now lands as often as every five minutes. In addition, the Heart Rate app splits recovery HRV from overall HRV. Recovery HRV flags daily stress. Overall HRV, by comparison, tracks longer cardiovascular trends.
Apple says a study of more than 1,000 people compared the new sensors with other leading wearables. Apple Watch posted the highest accuracy in that company-run test. Still, those numbers come from Apple, not from an independent lab review we have seen.
Readiness is the new daily score. It blends recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep score into a 0-10 number. Then it offers one of four prompts: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It. Moreover, the score updates through the day after a hard workout or a vitals swing.
Kaiann Drance leads Worldwide Apple Watch Product Marketing at Apple. She said the new Health Sensing System and S11 chip take Apple Watch Ultra 4 to the next level. She also pointed to longer battery life, faster charging, and the heart-rate claim. Apple designed the scoring algorithm with data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study.
Battery life now stretches past two days
As a result, everyday use now lasts more than two days, up to 50 hours. Low Power Mode stretches that to 84 hours. Also, a 15-minute charge adds up to 18 extra hours, Apple says.
Workout tracking gets its own modes. Extended Workout holds full GPS and heart rate for up to 25 hours. That is a 25 percent bump from the previous model. Then Max Extended Workout tracks outdoor runs, walks, and hikes for up to 45 hours. GPS still reads every second. Apple frames that as enough time for a 100-mile race.
That battery story sits next to another Apple claim. The company says Ultra 4 now offers the most accurate step tracking of any smartwatch. It also claims the most accurate on-device GPS in a sports watch. A new Steps complication puts the count on the face. Honor Watch 6 still talks in weeks, not hours, in our Honor Watch 6 battery-life coverage. Ultra 4 instead bets on denser sensors without leaving the two-day Apple Watch lane.
The S11 chip also unlocks Audio Intelligence later this year. Sound Recognition can alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing to sirens, alarms, doorbells, or a crying baby. In fact, it can do that even without a nearby iPhone. Live Rewind shows the last 15 seconds of a conversation after a double press of the Digital Crown. Siri Recap can write high-level summaries after a talk. Apple says these tools do not store audio recordings. Even so, Live Rewind and Siri Recap arrive in beta later this year.
Price, bands, and watchOS 27 timing
Apple Watch Ultra 4 ships in natural and black titanium. Likewise, new Trail Loop colors include dark umber, sand, and burgundy. Alpine Loop adds desert, dark olive, and burgundy. Ocean Bands now use translucent silicone in gray, kelp, and black. Hermes, in particular, adds a Grand H titanium band with a built-in extension for a wet suit.
Additionally, a redesigned Health app arrives later this year in United States English. It adds an Insights tab and a Longevity tab with Health Age. That feature compares metrics such as VO2 max and sleep with a person’s actual age. Apple also says Health app users can book labs with more than 50 biomarkers for 119 dollars. Those labs would run at about 2,000 Quest Diagnostics sites. Of course, that lab storefront is Apple’s plan, not a Tech My Money recommendation.
Finally, watchOS 27 lands Monday, September 14 on Apple Watch Series 9 and later, SE 3, and Ultra 2 and later. Tech My Money already covered how watchOS 27 drops the original Ultra and the SE 2. At the same time, Siri AI rolls out the same day as an English beta on supported watches. Apple teed up the September 9 event as a hardware night. Ultra 4 is the rugged watch that night produced.
