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Apple Watch Ultra With 10% Larger Display and MicroLED Expected to Launch in 2026
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Meh. People said that about the bigger iPhones too. You’ll eventually want a bigger screen and more features.
There isn’t a hot market for used iPhone minis nor will there be for a used ultra.
Have you guys heard of the better athletically geared sports watches called the Garmin Fenix and epix 2?
Those have massive screens but Garmin does sell smaller versions for their user base.
Those have massive screens but Garmin does sell smaller versions for their user base.
U
I think u meant "iClocks"😀So how long before Apple starts making Flavor Fav clocks?
We’ve never heard of that brand or those watches, so I hope you can answer some questions. Will they let us send and receive texts and make phone calls? Can they serve as iPods at the gym or while commuting? Can they access our email, calendars and reminders that are synced with our iPhones?
Oh, I forgot about my biggest use case: Apple Pay. Can those watches allow us to make contactless purchases?
Can those watches detect if someone has been in a car crash or taken a fall while running or cycling and contact emergency services?
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The garmin fenix and epix are a bit much for me. I had the original fenix for a while, but returned it.
Honestly the only thing I'm looking forward to from Apple in the last 7+ years
The Apple Watch Ultra will gain a 10% percent larger display upon switching from OLED to microLED in 2026, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce.
The current Apple Watch Ultra has a display size of 1.93-inches, whereas the upcoming microLED model is apparently due to feature a 2.12-inch screen. The microLED panel is estimated to cost two to three times more than the equivalent OLED display used in the current model, at a price of around $120. It is due to be supplied by Germany's ams OSRAM and South Korea's LG Display.
Apple's plan to bring a microLED display to the Apple Watch Ultra is very widely corroborated, starting with a report from display analyst Ross Young in January 2023. The advanced display offers improved brightness, color reproduction, dynamic range, viewing angles, and efficiency, making images look more like they are "painted" atop the display glass. The project is part of Apple's plan to reduce its reliance on Samsung as a supplier while yielding benefits from engineering its own displays in-house, just like its chip technology.
TrendForce's 2026 launch time frame for the microLED Apple Watch Ultra remains unchanged and is later than several other sources, which have largely centered on 2025.
Apple has reportedly been working on custom microLED display technology for almost a decade. The company is said to have plans to replace all of its existing LCD, OLED, and mini-LED panels with microLED in the long term, with the technology being designed to be scaled up from the Apple Watch to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro headset.
Article Link: Apple Watch Ultra With 10% Larger Display and MicroLED Expected to Launch in 2026
The Ultra already looks clownish on everyone but NFL Linemen. I can't imagine it being 10% bigger than that.
Ha - what’s a Garmin you say? They’re definitely not full smart watches…though you can:
get text and call notifications
stream music
show email and calendar notifications
NFC payments (though I’ve heard that it’s problematic)
And yes, they do have their own version of crash / fall detection.
I switched from an AW 18 months ago (to an Epix Pro), and don’t see myself going back to Apple anytime soon.
The thing that Garmin offers that the AW Ultra (or any AW for that matter) doesn’t offer is a more traditional / masculine form factor with a round case. Before I bought an Apple Watch, I wore my Seiko Arctura Automatic for 15+ years and passed it down to my youngest son, who continues to wear it. It never needed a battery (it’s an automatic movement), nor did it need servicing. The case is scratched up, but the lens is scratch-free. I don’t expect the Garmin will last that long, but I like it almost as much as my old Seiko.
nope, it might not get bigger at all. the black bezels of the Ultra & Ultra 2 are MASSIVE and if shrunk to the level of the current bezels around the Series 9 would result in a screen exactly the predicted new size with no increase in the size of the watch at all.
1) new sensors on the back
2) an additional Ti color
3) perhaps continued speed increases in the CPU and improvements in battery life
4) next year: on watch trail mapping and routing, integration with a new AI based health coaching system that schedules workouts etc. and sends them to the watch.
the discussion about increasing the screen size and moving to microled is for an Apple Watch coming out 3 YEARS from now. if you follow the rumors you'd know NEXT year is the predicted arrival of on watch trail mapping and routing along with some kind of AI based coaching platform that syncs with the watch, which hopefully will have wellness records and metrics. also the Apple Watch as a platform (including Ultra) will be getting a new rear sensor package that adds blood pressure monitoring (will not give exact values, but warn of trends) and sleep apnea detection... all before 2026, perhaps as early as the big Series 10 redesign launching next fall. don't fault Apple for updating the look of Ultra FOUR YEARS after its launch (2026)!
I’d be worried getting rid of any bezel/frame will make the watch screen more vulnerable to damage. Especially for your types of activities it is marketed toward.
When it says larger display. I don’t see it saying larger casing.
We also see this historically with the regular Apple Watch.
The one and only thing that “bothers” me about my ultra are the size of the bezels. You don’t notice them often, but looking at watch faces with a full color face, they are quite large. I’ve always expected a future watch shrinking them.
It’s fantastic news to me if they wait til 2026. That’s closer to my upgrade cycle for watches.
The same or very very similar size watch with 10% larger display - and upgraded display would be great.
If it can get just a little bit bigger it may finally be able to do more apps and tasks.
Another user responded below but if you are serious about training then you get a garmin. There are far more metrics to capture and useable data to the end user.
Sounds like you lift? If that’s the extent of your workouts then I’d stick to the Apple Watch.
I use both - yes I wear an Apple Watch on one hand and the other is a garmin.
Apple is great for the smart capabilities while garmin excels at everything else.
I really tried to walk away from garmin but the battery life, useful metrics, and user sport experience has me back.
Apple Watch has been nothing but a disappointment as an athlete.
It’s a poser athlete watch Imo.
All I want them to do with it is make a bigger effort to compete with Garmin watches like the Epix 2 that I have. If they could get half of the battery life that my Epix can get (5 days with always display on and 14 days with always on turned off is what my Epix with AMOLED can get) I would be interested. That said, for me it would also help if there was a better native cycling app and if the Apple Watch could send heart rate data to another computer since I also use a cycling computer that I mount on my handlebars.