Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Ultra 1 to Ultra 2 upgrade
- Thread starter Casey05
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
not sure where you are, or if you got your 1 before the cutoff date, but if you're in the US, any new watch will not have blood oxygen.
Whether you actively use it or not, it’s collecting information for trending. I never actively check mine but I’d rather have the trend than not have the trend.
I still have an U1. I would not upgrade to an U2 even though I’d keep the blood oxygen, but only you can determine whether it’s worthwhile to you or not. Plenty have and have been happy with the upgrade. The on device Siri would be useful in some situations, and the black looks killer.
You should do it.
Watch OS11 actually made the gap between the Ultra and Ultra 2 a bit bigger. Ultra 2 gained sleep apnea detection and external speaker support this year. However, ultimately the upgrade probably still isn't worth it, especially, if you are sticking with natural titanium. Unless you need a new battery or something, Ultra 1 is still great. My battery is still at 100%...
I upgraded last year when the U2 was first released, battery life is better and SOC is more powerful. I had posted my impressions last year, somewhere in here
.Battery life for my use case with U1 at the end of about continuous 38hr use was between 25-30%, U2 is about 40-45% with same usage. And I recall that OS upgrades took about 2/3 of the time
Pretty much exactly what I see on my U1 and U2, it‘s just that I wear them for around 24hrs and therefore have slightly higher battery percentages when putting them on the charger.I upgraded last year when the U2 was first released, battery life is better and SOC is more powerful. I had posted my impressions last year, somewhere in here
Battery life for my use case with U1 at the end of about continuous 38hr use was between 25-30%, U2 is about 40-45% with same usage. And I recall that OS upgrades took about 2/3 of the time
I’m a runner and the things I like about the Ultra 2 over my Ultra 1 were this:
1. Siri is noticeably faster due to the more powerful processor. I use Siri a lot when running. Also, I think Siri went to onboard with the Ultra 2?
2. I run in the direct sunlight a lot and this is the one situation where the brighter screen really makes a big difference.
3. When my hands are really sweaty the sweat locks up my screen. But I can still use the fist clench motion to “tap”. I love that.
1. Siri is noticeably faster due to the more powerful processor. I use Siri a lot when running. Also, I think Siri went to onboard with the Ultra 2?
2. I run in the direct sunlight a lot and this is the one situation where the brighter screen really makes a big difference.
3. When my hands are really sweaty the sweat locks up my screen. But I can still use the fist clench motion to “tap”. I love that.
Hi,
just bought an AW U1 is nearly perfect condition for "small money"...battery life ist near perfect (98%) and I m very happy with the watch. Yes, of course the AW U2 is better, but the changes are minor (to me) and the U2 is definately more expensive. Do I miss any function the U2 has compared to the U1? No, not really. Probably wating for a AW U3 in 2025, hopefully with a bigger step forward
Btw, sleep apnea detection is nice to have, but actually If you are a bit familiar with the medical field, you could identify sleep apnea episodes by yourself. The U1 can detect: breath frequency, heart rate and blood oxygen. If you can map all three parameters (e.g. temporary breathing stops + significant heart rate variability + blood oxygen drops <90%) you could identify sleep apnea by yourself.
Kind regards
just bought an AW U1 is nearly perfect condition for "small money"...battery life ist near perfect (98%) and I m very happy with the watch. Yes, of course the AW U2 is better, but the changes are minor (to me) and the U2 is definately more expensive. Do I miss any function the U2 has compared to the U1? No, not really. Probably wating for a AW U3 in 2025, hopefully with a bigger step forward
Btw, sleep apnea detection is nice to have, but actually If you are a bit familiar with the medical field, you could identify sleep apnea episodes by yourself. The U1 can detect: breath frequency, heart rate and blood oxygen. If you can map all three parameters (e.g. temporary breathing stops + significant heart rate variability + blood oxygen drops <90%) you could identify sleep apnea by yourself.
Kind regards
Another Pro Tip: if you put your fingers on your wrist, you can know your heart rate at that moment.Hi,
just bought an AW U1 is nearly perfect condition for "small money"...battery life ist near perfect (98%) and I m very happy with the watch. Yes, of course the AW U2 is better, but the changes are minor (to me) and the U2 is definately more expensive. Do I miss any function the U2 has compared to the U1? No, not really. Probably wating for a AW U3 in 2025, hopefully with a bigger step forward
Btw, sleep apnea detection is nice to have, but actually If you are a bit familiar with the medical field, you could identify sleep apnea episodes by yourself. The U1 can detect: breath frequency, heart rate and blood oxygen. If you can map all three parameters (e.g. temporary breathing stops + significant heart rate variability + blood oxygen drops <90%) you could identify sleep apnea by yourself.
Kind regards
Now seriously...
My father has been diagnosed with sleep apnea, if you look at his blood oxygen records you don't draw any conclusions. We are talking about a dozen random measurements over the course of an entire night.
He also has a minor heart problem, so the heart rate variability data would also be useless. And, as I said before, in this case we're talking about only 5-6 HRV readings during the night... More if you enable AFib history.
So... In my opinion... I do not find it realistic that a normal user (or even one with medical training) could draw any conclusions from the data available up to now with sleep apnea detection.
I find it more realistic that one might think that one has this illness due to basic symptoms such as sleeping poorly and so on. But of course, for every one who is right, maybe there are 50 who are not...
I"ve also recently been diagnosed, one of the things that made me go get checked out was my blood oxygen in the lower 90s and occasionally high 80s while sleeping. You should be 95 or above.
When I'm using my CPAP, I'm 95 or above, might have an occasionally 93 or 94 a night, as opposed to the multiple I used to have.
I use an app called auto sleep, it's got a good oxygen display, not only does it give you a total night average with a pie chart of where you were, it's also got a chart of your sleep, with the oxygen marked on it. green for 95+, yellow for 90-95, or red for below.
Ok, maybe I was wrong and should have stated that the above mentioned parameters give a hint that there might be sleep apnea. And you should consult a doctor with these results.
But sleep apnea is mostly characterized by…
- Breathing stops (several times an hour)
- reduced breathing rate (a normal adult breathes approx. 12-18 times a minute)
- Low blood oxygen level < 90% (in severe cases there are drops to 70-80%)
- increased heart rate, as the heart tries to compensate for the lack of oxygen by increasing the heart rate
and all these parameters are recorded by Apple Watch (which is great btw). So you could have evidence that there might be sleep apnea. But as I said, final diagnosis is done by a specialist.
But we should go back to topic now 😊