For recreational diving you will be fine. Plus you will have much more from Apple Watch Ultra in term of smart watch functions than any diving computer. One watch to rule them all.
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Apple Watch Ultra looks like stand alone dive computer. No air integration?
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It can go to 100 meters. The 40 meters is a recommended depth. Basically it's designed for recreational diving - not for pro divers - which is a mass market of diving.
The watch won't break if you go to 45 meters for example.
NDL: No Decompression Limit
-> This is the amount of time a human being can spend submerged at a given depth without getting DCS (decompression sickness) due to nitrogen that accumulates in the blood when breathing air submerged.
PFO: Patent foramen ovale
-> This is a medical condition that some humans are born with. Most people never find out. It's basically a hole between the L and R atria in the heart. Can be easily patched up in a minimally invasive procedure if you know it's there. Most divers don't find out until they got a DCS hit. In simplified terms, this causes nitrogen-rich blood to pass from the systemic veinous (low O2, high N) into the pulmonary (high O2, low N) blood stream, which causes blood with an increased Nitrogen concentration to recirculate the body. This frequently causes DCS.
Why would they list Daily & Monthly costs then...? Yearly is listed as $80/year, or $130/year for the Family Plan (up to five users)...
Common sense tells one that $5 (daily fee) times 365 is way more than $80 (yearly fee); same with $10 (monthly fee) times 12 being more than $80 (yearly fee)...
Look at the Dive Planning portion of the webpage, Surface Time & No Fly Time are covered ...
Water is much better than air at absorbing radio, particularly higher frequencies like the 2.4GHz used by Bluetooth. This paper did a deep dive on 2.4GHz and found the transmission became useless around 15-20cm (6-8 inches) with their setup. For a reliable dive watch, you probably want 3m+ range considering it may not always be in direct line-of-sight.
Dive watch manufacturers opt for either shorter wavelengths or alternative methods like sound waves (e.g. Garmin "Subwave Sonar"). Improving 2.4GHz enough to be useful may not be possible and almost certainly isn't w/in current Bluetooth specs. I'm not aware of Apple having any lower-frequency transmitters/receivers to piggy-back, although I can double check w/ someone who knows. The only method left would be acoustic, and only if Garmin hasn't completely blocked the space w/ patents.
P.S. "Table 6" at the bottom of that study compiles results from a whole host of other studies, some achieving ranges as high as 90m for 5MHz and 2500m for acoustic signals. 2.4GHz is just a super rough choice for this application.
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NDL and PFO eloquently explained by rhor above.
Most insurance companies look for a loophole to avoid paying out hence the need to read the small print. The standard holiday bundled with my bank account only covers diving to 18m.
All too easy to descend just below this hence the need for specialist insurance.
Last dive was 2011. Counting the days until my 6 yo son is old enough. Feel ya man. Enjoy!!
Can you imagine using this as a dive computer and getting notifications from tik tok and to update your watch os version 💀
From the Apple web site:
- Apple Watch Ultra has a water-resistance rating of 100 metres under ISO standard 22810. It may be used for recreational scuba diving (with compatible third-party app from the App Store) to 40 metres and high-speed water sports. Apple Watch Ultra should not be used for diving below 40 metres. Water resistance is not a permanent condition and can diminish over time. For additional information see support.apple.com/en-ca/HT205000.
It's interesting that Garmin doesn't seem to use ISO ratings for watches like the Descent. It seems possible that while they don't necessarily meet the standard of ISO 6425, they don't want to use the 22810 standard due to the implied limitations. They do stand behind their watches to 100m though.
I suspect this will be a spec that could increase each release. This year 40m, next year 80m, then 100m and air integration.
I suspect this will be a spec that could increase each release. This year 40m, next year 80m, then 100m and air integration.
Approaching that, sure. I had dived around that many times. Below that? No. Why? Because our dive master won't allow it. We don't have a pro diving license.
It literally said in your quote from Apple
The limit of 40 meters is not accidental. It's intentional. It's by design.
But it doesn't mean the watch will break when you go, says, 43 meters. No. The watch is capable to withstand 100 meters. It's just the depth sensor won't know it since it will only work down to 40 meters.
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So this might be a much, much cooler application of Oceanic+…
The app will be available for iPhone as well and Oceanic is making a phone housing that is good to 60m and will let you make your iPhone a dive computer. It includes a depth gauge and temperature sensor. Considering that it's wired into the iPhone I wonder if it (or a later generation of it) will end up having a transmitter for air integration.
The app will be available for iPhone as well and Oceanic is making a phone housing that is good to 60m and will let you make your iPhone a dive computer. It includes a depth gauge and temperature sensor. Considering that it's wired into the iPhone I wonder if it (or a later generation of it) will end up having a transmitter for air integration.
Cool! Considering Oceanic already has the transmitter such an update shouldn’t be far off:
WIRELESS TRANSMITTER - Oceanic Worldwide
This Oceanic Transmitter will work with many of Oceanic's computers that are air integrated. If you have an OC1, Atom 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0, VT, VT3, V, VT, VT3 and VT4 and want to upgrade or need to replace your transmitter this item is what you want. Each compatible Oceanic Hose-Less Air Integrated...
www.oceanicworldwide.com
I’ve used this for years with a Data Mask, and love it. Would be difficult to go back to looking at my wrist again.
Not to mention wired (or tubed, more accurately?) transmission, which I did away with when I got a Suunto D9 some 20 years ago.
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That is very cool. I'd still dive with my wrist computer for convenience, but as an underwater camera, it beats the GoPro. And if the app also captures GPS data, it would be great.So this might be a much, much cooler application of Oceanic+…
The app will be available for iPhone as well and Oceanic is making a phone housing that is good to 60m and will let you make your iPhone a dive computer. It includes a depth gauge and temperature sensor. Considering that it's wired into the iPhone I wonder if it (or a later generation of it) will end up having a transmitter for air integration.
Looks like there are a few other similar ones, some of which come with dive computer apps (HotDive H2), some of which don't (Kraken Sports).
My concern about using a phone as a dive computer would be the potential of freezing/crashing, which seems more likely than on a dedicated device like a dive computer or even a mixed-use device like the Apple Watch Ultra. Maybe you could mitigate that by using an otherwise wiped or new phone with no other apps that you exclusively use for these purposes.
I would not use it as my primary computer, if for no other reason that it is faster and more convenient to look at my wrist than to grab the phone and look at it. I may look at the watch. I'd still dive with my Cressi computer as well for a while.
I won’t dive without air integration anymore. However, I do always dive with a backup computer. Since I will be getting the Ultra anyway for backpacking trips etc, the Ultra will become my backup dive computer and my Suunto with air integration will remain my primary.
I wouldn’t worry at all about diving close to the 40m limit.
I will occasionally do a deeper dive. Last dive trip I had one down to 186ft/56.7M. From what I’m reading, it looks like the Apple Watch is certified waterproof to 100m, but the depth sensor is only rated to 130ft/40m. In those instances I will be concerned about my Ultra, but I will probably try it just to see what happens. I’m willing to bet there will be a youtube video out within the next 30 days where someone puts it to the test.
Edit: Forgot to add, it does show surface interval and time to fly according to articles I’ve been reading on dive sites.
I wouldn’t worry at all about diving close to the 40m limit.
I will occasionally do a deeper dive. Last dive trip I had one down to 186ft/56.7M. From what I’m reading, it looks like the Apple Watch is certified waterproof to 100m, but the depth sensor is only rated to 130ft/40m. In those instances I will be concerned about my Ultra, but I will probably try it just to see what happens. I’m willing to bet there will be a youtube video out within the next 30 days where someone puts it to the test.
Edit: Forgot to add, it does show surface interval and time to fly according to articles I’ve been reading on dive sites.
Please report back. I'm curious what will happen beyond 40M. The screen will flash red perhaps? 😀
The watch face blinks and the watch vibrates but still records data. See video. He dives to 42 meters. Turn on subtitles with auto translation.
NDL is no deco limit, how long you can dive without a mandatory decompression stop.
PFO is a Patent foramen ovale, everyone has a hole in their heart as they develop in the womb you use your mother's lungs while developing. The hole closes up when you're born. If it reopens (surprisingly common) then you can't off-gas as efficiently and are more prone to decompression sickness.
I'm a fairly experienced diver, often twinset and drysuit > 40m multi gasses, caves and mandatory deco. My first dive computer about 12 years ago was air integrated. Never use it now. I'll be using my AWU as a backup computer for shallower dives.