Apple Watch Ultra 4

#1

Post by tech234a » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 5:56 PM UTC

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#2

Post by mikestew » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:06 PM UTC

The only thing keeping on a Garmin is that my OG AW Ultra probably won't last a mountain 50 miler (I've used it for easier 50 mile races). If it truly lasts anywhere near 45 hours, even my old, slow ass could knock out 100 miles in that time.

Plus satellite comms on the AW (which I'd have to spend money to upgrade the 965 to get that feature). I just might pick one up next week.

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#3

Post by ktallett » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:36 PM UTC

Two days is so poor for a ultra watch. The fact it won't last a full weekend let alone any significant hike just means it doesn't fit the market it is aiming at.

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#4

Post by smeeth » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:40 PM UTC

Dear Apple,

I want to send you my money, but your expensive watch I want to buy is f**ing massive and my wrist is normally sized. I don't really understand why this is still an issue since it's been 4 years.

Thanks,

- Guy with slightly below average wrist circumference (40th %ile)

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#5

Post by atomflunder3000 » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:44 PM UTC

The first thing they mention is the "great" battery life and it is still only just over 2 days, great.

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#6

Post by brandonb » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

The 4th generation heart rate sensor is quite interesting -- Apple Watch used to sample every ~5 minutes, and now it's every 5 seconds (basically continuous). I think that'll enable a lot of interesting health & wellness use cases.

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#7

Post by skadamat » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:54 PM UTC

brandonb wrote: post #6

The 4th generation heart rate sensor is quite interesting -- Apple Watch used to sample every ~5 minutes, and now it's every 5 seconds (basically continuous). I think that'll enable a lot of interesting health & wellness use cases.

It's interesting because during workouts, the heart rate sensor samples every 5 seconds but besides that, it was either every 2 or 5 minutes. I'm guessing the battery drain is too much to have it sample every 5 seconds all the time!

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#8

Post by alistairSH » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

smeeth wrote: post #4

Dear Apple, I want to send you my money, but your expensive watch I want to buy is f**ing massive and my wrist is normally sized. I don't really understand why this is still an issue since it's been 4 years. Thanks, - Guy with slightly below average wrist circumference (40th %ile)

An "Ultra Mini" with a proper lap button would open my wallet very quickly.

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#9

Post by carabiner » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

atomflunder3000 wrote: post #5

The first thing they mention is the "great" battery life and it is still only just over 2 days, great.

I desperately wish apple would release a viable competitor to the garmin fenix line but they can't with that battery life. Garmin UX and software overall is such dogshit, and to have Apple UX with garmin raw performance (battery life, GPS tracking accuracy, activity modes) would be perfect. Apple could never though because the fenix was designed from the ground up as an embedded device microcontroller, whereas apple watch is a general purpose computer with a GPU.

Re: Apple Watch Ultra 4

#10

Post by brians » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 6:55 PM UTC

atomflunder3000 wrote: post #5

The first thing they mention is the "great" battery life and it is still only just over 2 days, great.

Yup. This tells me the AWU is not the adventure watch for me. I love my Apple Watch (8? I think?) and I love my Garmin Instinct Solar with 40d battery life. One of these is for daily wear as a communicator; the other is for weeks in the mountains or offshore.