A detailed look at the features on the new Apple Watch Ultra 2, including the new control gesture – tapping your fingers

We were on hand for the announcement of the new Apple Watch Ultra 2 earlier today, the latest version of the watch Apple introduced last year geared towards endurance and adventure enthusiasts. In a nutshell, the new Ultra 2 builds on the original Ultra, adding the powerful new S9 SiP processor, an innovative new double tap gesture (literally tapping your fingers to control certain features), Apple’s brightest display ever, expanded altitude range, on-device Siri, Precision Finding for iPhone, and more advanced diving capabilities. The new watchOS 10 provides additional features including redesigned apps, the new Smart Stack, new cycling experiences, features to help explore the outdoors, and a new watch face — Modular Ultra. The new watch manages to add the extra computing power and brighter screen with the same battery life – 36 hours, with up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode.

Today’s launch really highlighted how the Apple Watch family has become very similar to Apple’s iPhone lineup – we can expect yearly updates in parallel to the iPhone models. The presentation also really pushed the health and safety features of the products through heart rate tracking and emergency alert features.

Apple gets even more serious about the endurance watch game with new Ultra 2

Here’s a more in depth look at the features of the new Apple Watch Ultra 2 gleaned through press releases from Apple after todays presentation at Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino, California:

New S9 SiP

The Ultra 2 utilizes the new S9 SiP processor. This provides enough power for on-device Siri usage, the innovative “double tap” gesture and access to health data. The new 4-core neural engine processes machine learning tasks up to twice as fast. 

Double Tap Gesture

You can control the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (and the Apple Watch Series 9) through a new double tap gesture.

“Users can tap the index finger and thumb of their watch hand together twice to quickly and conveniently perform many of the most common actions on Apple Watch Ultra 2,” Apple says. “Double tap will also open the Smart Stack from the watch face, and another double tap will scroll through widgets in the stack. Double tap controls the primary button in an app so it can be used to stop a timer, play and pause music, or snooze an alarm. The gesture can be used to answer and end a phone call, take a photo with the Camera Remote on Apple Watch, or even switch to the new Elevation view in the Compass app to see the relative elevation of saved waypoints.”

“The new double tap gesture is enabled by the faster Neural Engine in Apple Watch Ultra 2, which processes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor with a new machine learning algorithm,” today’s release continues. “The algorithm detects the unique signature of tiny wrist movements and changes in blood flow when the index finger and thumb perform a double tap. The double tap gesture will be available in a software update next month.”

Brighter Display

The new Ultra 2 now has a maximum brightness of 200 nits, 50 per cent brighter than the original. The display can be reduced to 1 nit when you want to keep things darker, while the flashlight can be set to double the brightness when needed. 

Modular Ultra Watch Face

A new watch face is available to take advantage of the larger display. The new Ultra Watch Face will “take advantage of the large display, using the outermost edge to present real-time data, including seconds, altitude, or depth.”

You’ll be to customize the complications on the watch face to keep track of activities.

Tested for Extremes

The new Apple Watch Ultra 2 has been tested from 500 meters below sea level to up to 9,000 meters at the world’s tallest peaks.

Recreational Scuba Diving and Freediving

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 offers lots of water sports features and will work for recreational scuba diving to 40 m.

On-Device Siri with Ability to Access and Log Health Data

“For the first time on Apple Watch, Siri requests can be processed on device,” Apple says. “For requests that do not require information from the internet, like starting a workout or setting a timer, Siri does not rely on Wi-Fi or cellular networks, resulting in quicker and more reliable responses. The powerful Neural Engine also makes dictation up to 25 percent more accurate.”

“On-device processing is private and secure, and now Siri can be used to access data from the Health app for health- and fitness-related queries,” Apple says. “For example, a user can ask how many hours of sleep they had the previous night, for progress on closing their Activity rings, to start an outdoor run or cycling workout, or make requests like setting a waypoint with just their voice, even with no connectivity. Users can also make Siri requests on Apple Watch Ultra 2 to log health data such as their weight, body temperature, period, or medications taken.”

Precision Finding

The new S9 SiP provides Precision Finding for the iPhone 15 family, which uses the same chip. “Precision Finding provides distance and direction, as well as visual, haptic, and audio guidance to a misplaced iPhone, even if it’s in a different room.”

Featuring watchOS 10

Apple Watch Ultra 2 runs watchOS 10, which includes: 

• Redesigned apps and a new Smart Stack to show relevant widgets
• New watch faces
• Night Mode automatically activates in the dark.
• Bluetooth connectivity for power meters, speed sensors, and cadence sensors. Power Zones help users get the most out of training.
• Cycling workouts can automatically show up as a Live Activity on iPhone.
• An updated Compass app displays current elevation in real time and includes a 3D view of waypoints showing relative elevation.
• Additional tools to support mental health with state of mind logging in the Mindfulness app.
• The ability to measure time spent in daylight using the ambient light sensor to help reduce the risk of myopia.

Lineup

• Apple Watch Ultra 2 is available in 49mm, and is carbon neutral when paired with a new Trail Loop or Alpine Loop.
• New band colours are available for the Alpine Loop (blue, indigo, olive), Trail Loop (orange/beige, green/grey, blue/black) and Ocean Band (blue, orange).
• All new Apple Watch Trail Loop and Alpine Loop bands are carbon neutral and contain over 30 percent recycled content.
• Apple also announced a new Apple Watch Series 9 that will utilize the same S9 chip and offer many of the same features.
• There’s also an Apple Watch SE included in the line up.

Pricing and Availability

• Availability in stores begins Friday, September 22.
• Apple Watch Ultra 2 is $1,099 (CAD).
• Three months of Apple Fitness+ are included for customers who purchase Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Ultra 2, or a new Apple Watch Series 4 or later.

We’ll have a more in depth review of the new Apple Watch Ultra 2 over the next few weeks.