First impressions of the new Apple Watches

The Apple event held every fall generates lots of buzz and media attention, with tech fans eagerly anticipating what the company will bring us in its latest iPhone. Until last year, casing out the event probably wasn’t high on the to-do lists for most triathletes and runners. Sure, they were probably interested in the new iPhone, but in terms of a watch, most serious endurance athletes weren’t much interested in the Apple Watch. That all changed in 2022, though, with the launch of the Apple Watch Ultra. Suddenly serious triathletes could enjoy all the seamless integration between their watch, their iPhone and other Apple gear. Suddenly they could train for, and complete, an Ironman or Ultra run, all the while getting valuable GPS, heart rate and other training information, without having to change watches.

Apple Watch Ultra is ready for your Ironman racing and training needs

Ultra 2 – welcome to double tap

I’m not sure the folks at Apple see things this way, but for me the arrival of the Ultra 2 has set up a new dynamic within the Apple universe. Apple Watch now gets its own high-end version of the iPhone, just like the “Pro,” and we can now look forward to updated specs on the watch every year. The arrival of the Ultra last year signalled Apple was ready to get serious about endurance and adventure sports. The Ultra 2 signals they’re really serious.

Like the Ultra, the Ultra 2 features a 49mm titanium case. It’s big, but manages to feel very light on your wrist. The customizable action button remains, as does the Digital Crown, which is protected by a titanium guard. The side button is slightly raised. Everything is easy to access, even if you’re wearing gloves.

While the Ultra 2 doesn’t look any different to the Ultra on the outside, inside there’s been some dramatic changes. It starts with a  new S9 System in Package (SiP) – basically a new chip – that boosts performance by 30 per cent. That means the Ultra 2 can do some stuff that the Ultra can’t – Siri requests can now be processed on the device, dictation is 25 per cent more accurate and you can access health data directly on the watch. While those are great additions, the truly groundbreaking aspect of the new chip is still to come. The new “double tap” feature is really amazing. It’s not going to be available until October, but I did have a chance to play with it a bit at the Apple event last week and it really is an awesome feature. You can answer a call, pause a podcast, start and stop a workout, open up the new Smart Stack (part of the new OS10) and much more by simply tapping your thumb and index finger together. Our review watch didn’t have that access (we’ll have to wait until October, too!), but I can’t wait to play with it.

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

Brighter screen optimized for watchOS 10

Yeah, I hear you. It’s not like the Ultra’s screen isn’t bright, but the Ultra 2’s screen is 50 per cent brighter (up to 3,000 nits), making it the “biggest, brightest Always-On Retina display Apple has ever designed.” It’s extremely sharp and is that much more visible in really bright light. It makes it that much easier to see things while training.

The new watchOS 10 operating system is a game changer for all the Apple Watches, allowing you to add Bluetooth power and cadence data to your workout view. The new Ultra 2 allows you to really take advantage of all the new features provided by watchOS 10. You can have up to six lines of data on display at any given time and, thanks to the large, sharp screen, they’re all quite easy to see.

Apple Watch Series 9

While the Ultra is certainly the top-of-the-line choice for serious triathletes and runners, there’s a lot to be said for the Series 9 as a capable training partner, too. Our very-pink review model certainly stands out as a fashion piece, but, like the Ultra 2, there’s a lot going on inside the new Series 9. It’s armed with the S9 SiP, too, and features an Always On Retina display that goes up to 2,000 nits, making it easier to see in the bright sun.

Thanks to the new chip, you also get on-device Siri, all those training and health benefits, and the Double Tap gesture that’s going to be a popular feature in the new watches..

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

Battery Life

We really haven’t had a chance to put the new watches to the test, but so far it would appear that battery life remains pretty much the same as with the original Ultra and the Series 8. That means 36 hours of normal use for the Ultra 2 and 18-hour battery life in the Series 9 – which is impressive considering the speedier processor and brighter screens.

Thoughts

It’s still early days in our review of the new watches, but the Ultra 2 and Series 9 offer some definite upgrades to the old watches. The speedy processor makes a huge difference for apps like maps, and also really does make a difference for voice recognition. The brighter screen is beautiful, and makes it that much easier to see all the training data you can get from the watches.

Double Tap, once it’s available, is likely to be a real game changer, allowing you to easily do various tasks without having to free up another hand. We’ll for sure offer some more insight on that once we’ve had a chance to play with it a bit more.

So, if you have an Apple Watch Ultra or Series 8 do you need to run out and get the Ultra 2 or Series 9? That depends on how much you love to have the latest and greatest tech. With watchOS 10, both those “older” watches are still going to be pretty amazing. They’ll offer extensive training data, all in a device that allows you to enjoy seamless integration with your iPhone, AirPods and MacBook.

The real message that came out of Apple’s event last week? Apple really wants to provide a watch that will allow adventure lovers and endurance athletes the ability to enjoy an Apple Watch without having to give up on the high-performance capabilities of a high-end GPS watch. And, every year, we can look forward to the watches getting even better.

Apple events just got fun for serious triathletes and runners!