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Apple Watch Ultra vs. Ultra 2 Buyer's Guide: 12 Differences Compared
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Seems like there is no particular reason to upgrade from Ultra 1
OMG, I sure hope it’s not a rectal thermometer! That would be very awkward in social situations!It's good to see no reason to upgrade! We all need less e-waste!
What's the thermometer function you're referring to? Surely not the wrist temperature detection which already exists. You mean like infrared thermo function to detect the body temp?
I know it is at least the difference between the A13 and A15 chips, as the S8 and S9 were based on those cores. Then the engineers spent two years to optimize power efficiency. Then, the article says 60% more performance, which means it is at least 60% more efficient, you can do the same calculation 60% shorter. It's all about engineering, trying to optimise with what you have, but I don't think they relied on the lord.
I will certainly test to see how much the new chip makes a difference with overall smoothness. More brightness is good certainly in those bright sunny days.
I’m never on any beta on any device, so can’t tell you how it is. I’m running OS 9.6.2 and works perfectly.
Same boat, mate.
But the watch is torpedoing itself.
I used to be able to charge it every other day, but it is not the case anymore for the past half year.
Clearly you haven't tried the gestures feature on older watches, otherwise you'd know it doesn't work very well and is very limited what you can do with it.
Night & Day compared to how it works on the new watches
Probably because the others didn't want to mislead people, as you've already mentioned, they don't work very well and are very limited compared to what's on the new watch
Those levels of trade in won't last very longI did look into it just to see what it would cost to do a trade-in and purchase the Ultra 2. Trade-in for Ultra 1 is about $340, so one would be paying a little over half to upgrade to an Ultra 2. I'm a little surprised that the trade-in value was so good (or tell me my assessment is wrong.)
First of all — it doesn't work super well for me, but that doesn't mean it's the same for everyone. Also — by all means, introduce a better, faster, w/e version, but don't present it as something new and revolutionary. Especially if you're using this to sell us on a new best-ever processor.
The difference between A13 BIONIC & A15 BIONIC is 30% faster, that's what they've based it on
You've used it on the new watches. You must be very special and important to get a pre-sale model to test.
I have an Ultra and tested out gestures and it worked flawlessly. Will the new implementation be better in terms of system wide availability, I guess we will see.
Mine is at 84% battery health now.
I turned off always on display on day 1 and a couple of other things that I do not need.
That is probably why I got away with every other day charging. But my Series 3 definitely lasted longer between charges.
Yea, I kinda like the AOD... The watch looks so lonely with a dark display. My wife has the SE and I'm not a fan. Of course her battery dies even faster, in fact we had to replace her battery, but it's still crappy. I did turn off my walkie talkie, so that should have helped me with battery life)))
Apple will never stop these incremental upgrades, until they get hit with a huge reduction in sales.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 replaces the first-generation model that was introduced last year in Apple's smartwatch lineup, but how different are the two successive smartwatch generations?
In 2023, Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Ultra, introducing a more durable design and titanium casing, a larger and brighter display, additional speakers and microphones, considerably longer battery life, and more. The first-generation Apple Watch Ultra has now been discontinued by Apple, and as a year-old model, prices at third-party resellers are falling. As such, some customers may be weighing up whether to upgrade to a first- or second-generation Ultra.
The two Apple Watch Ultra models share the overwhelming majority of their features, so should you consider buying or sticking with the first-generation to save money? This breakdown also serves as a way to see all the differences that the Ultra 2 brings to the table.
Apple Watch Ultra (first-generation) Apple Watch Ultra 2 Retina display with up to 2,000 nits of brightness Retina display with up to 3,000 nits of brightness, Apple's brightest display ever Flashlight Flashlight boost via Digital Crown Double Tap gesture to stop timers, play and pause music, snooze alarms, answer and end phone calls, take photos with the Camera Remote, open the Smart Stack, and scroll through widgets, all without touching the display S8 chip (based on A13 Bionic chip) S9 chip (based on A15 Bionic chip: 60% more transistors, 30% faster) Neural Engine 4-core Neural Engine (up to twice as fast) Siri processed in the cloud via internet connection Siri processed on-device for requests that do not need information from the internet, resulting in quicker and more reliable responses Siri can access health and fitness data Dictation 25% more accurate dictation First-generation Ultra Wideband chip Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip Precision Finding for iPhone 15 models, providing distance and direction, as well as visual, haptic, and audio guidance to a misplaced iPhone HomePod integration: When a user gets within four meters of a playing HomePod, the Apple Watch launches Now Playing to control playback. If nothing is playing, media suggestions appear at the top of the Smart Stack. 32GB storage 64GB storage
Overall, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a very minor upgrade over the first-generation model, with the S9 chip, Double Tap, and Precision Finding for iPhone 15 models being the most significant changes. As a result, it is very difficult to recommend upgrading.
Most users of the existing Apple Watch Ultra will not be able to justify upgrading to the Ultra 2, but some customers coming from an older Apple Watch or those who do not have one at all could still have good reason to prefer the latest model, namely those who heavily use a HomePod, plan to buy an iPhone 15 model and can take advantage of Precision Finding, need additional storage for downloaded media, or think one-handed use with the Double Tap gesture would be useful.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is very similar to the first-generation model, so most customers who are interested in buying an Ultra model may prefer to look for a discounted first-generation model. If the original device can be found for a substantially lower price, it remains a solid buy. The Ultra 2 is priced at $799, so if you are not interested in its new features and can find the original model for less than ~$650, it may be worth getting that instead.
Article Link: Apple Watch Ultra vs. Ultra 2 Buyer's Guide: 12 Differences Compared
As far as I'm concerned, this is the second year on the trot, that they're taking the Mickey out of their consumers.
Despite the small vocal minority waxing lyrical as usual, I have a feeling this next cycle, Apple could take a 20 mil units sold hit and that is the only thing that will stop them taking the pee.
AWU already gives u 18 hrs more than your S 6, probably more now, so your reasoning is not convincing 😊
The AW is a fairly mature product, best selling smartwatch in the world. Many users want incremental upgrades to already-very-good products. We do not want change just for change sake because that degrades the good user experience we are used to.
Plus of course my expectation is that the much stronger chip will show improved daily operation.
My watch isn't a part of the context. I'm talking about a presentation which shows the upgrades from (in this case) Ultra 1 to Ultra 2. Since I didn't upgrade to the first Ultra, one might think I was looking for something just a bit more interesting, which this update also doesn't quite bring.
IMO one buys an AW Ultra not for a bit more interesting but instead for utility. IMO the much stronger chip in the AWU2 should make for a better, smoother-operating device. Perhaps not enough for most AWU1 owners like me to upgrade but enough that new buyers should go with AWU2.
Just my $0.02.
Yes, I do agree, however — I still feel underwhelmed by it while using S6. I'm probably not your POWER USER, but usually wear it most of the day, unless I swap it for my mechanical when I go out.
Fair. If I still had my Ultra I’d be keeping it at least another two years. I’ll be keeping my U2 for a minimum of 3 years.