Apple Watch Ultra 4

ttech234a about 4 hours ago 111 commentsRead Article on apple.com

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67% Positive

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Discussion (111 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

pilif•about 3 hours ago

The Ultra 2 was sold to me as the watch that can do Siri without network connectivity. That was very useful to me to leave reminders for stuff I think about while on a run without the phone.

3 years later, Apple releases the OS 27 versions and Siri got improved to the point where it can’t work on-device any more on said Ultra 2

So to get the feature back which I paid for and which was specifically used to sell me the device and which now has been taken away from me, I just have to… buy the next hardware generation?

And how long will that last before they decide to remove the feature again?

Thankfully, the Ultra 4 provides some other compelling features making this less painful, but I would have expected at least a toggle to keep old Siri on the old watch. New Siri over the network is impossibly slow and buggy (I made the mistake of installing the betas, so there’s no way back now)

JKCalhoun•2 minutes ago

On some of my devices, I have stopped updating the OS.

ElijahLynn•about 1 hour ago

Apple's marketing department is amazing, however, they just don't line up with the engineering department. I quit Apple long ago because they overhyped so many things, it feels misleading intentionally sometimes.

Very good marketers though, I'll give them that.

cromka•about 1 hour ago

I seriously am surprised there are no class action suits around the crippling of older devices that is happening these days. Google Home speakers are prime example of that.

atomflunder3000•about 3 hours ago

The first thing they mention is the "great" battery life and it is still only just over 2 days, great.

bwnkl•about 3 hours ago

The battery life during workout tracking did at least see a 3x improvement. 14 hours sounds plenty at first until you start riding your bike over long distances! 45 hours should cover most except the craziest ultra athletes, and those are probably sponsored by Garmin anyway

elAhmo•about 3 hours ago

I haven't met anyone who is serious about cycling and not using a real bike computer.

wl•about 2 hours ago

Triathletes are more likely than most cyclists to use wrist computers over bike computers.

(Cue joke about triathletes not being serious about cycling.)

jsbisviewtiful•about 3 hours ago

Hyperbole is Apple’s favorite communication style, but at this point it’s so overused that it’s just a meaningless meme. Apple’s wearable competitors blow the Apple Watch’s battery life out of the water and it’s not even close. Hyperbole is all Apple has in this race.

rootusrootus•about 3 hours ago

On the flip side, Apple blows them away on feature set, and often on data accuracy. There is give & take, different priorities for different people.

rndmio•about 1 hour ago

I’ve had a previous Apple Watch Ultra, it was nice but after playing with it for a while I used it for notifications and working out. I have a Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 51mm that will do 31 days of being just a smartwatch and can track my multi day cycling trips. The real killer feature I didn’t know I needed until I had it is a proper led torch on my watch, the light up screen on the Apple Watch doesn’t compare.

ktallett•about 1 hour ago

Blows them away? I haven't seen anything that is not just one or two features that other watches don't have. But all the.features require the watch to be on.

Data accuracy most certainly is not in relation to GPS which often cuts distances on the Apple Watch.

brians•about 3 hours ago

Yup. This tells me the AWU is not the adventure watch for me. I love my Apple Watch (8? I think?) and I love my Garmin Instinct Solar with 40d battery life. One of these is for daily wear as a communicator; the other is for weeks in the mountains or offshore.

psygn89•about 3 hours ago

I bought an Apple Watch recently so I can enter my workplace without much hassle (first world problems). Highly disappointing watch coming from a no-name Amazfit brand. I like my step counter, I don't care whether it's slightly off, I want to see it on my watch face - you'd safely assume it was possible, but no! So now I have to go through multiple menus and swipes to see it and it doesn't even show right away (takes several seconds at times). Don't get me started with the joke that is the battery life.

Apple Watch is probably Apple's shittiest product today.

rootusrootus•about 3 hours ago

I take it you are opposed to using non-Apple apps? I show step count on my Apple watch face.

psygn89•about 2 hours ago

No, I'm not opposed. I got my watch like 2 months ago and haven't really messed with it since. Just baffled that the option doesn't exist. Which app do you use for that and does it affect battery life?

jawilson2•about 3 hours ago

My Garmin Venu 4 has 10+ days.

carabiner•about 3 hours ago

I desperately wish apple would release a viable competitor to the garmin fenix line but they can't with that battery life. Garmin UX and software overall is such dogshit, and to have Apple UX with garmin raw performance (battery life, GPS tracking accuracy, activity modes) would be perfect. Apple could never though because the fenix was designed from the ground up as an embedded device microcontroller, whereas apple watch is a general purpose computer with a GPU.

ryanschaefer•about 3 hours ago

Had this thought during the presentation. How is the “rewind” feature legal? Don’t a lot of states have laws against making secret recordings?

danielmarkbruce•about 3 hours ago

You've always been allowed to transcribe (ie, write) out a conversation. Recording is a different thing. A person can always claim, easily and believably, that the transcription is made up. It's just text.

ryanschaefer•about 3 hours ago

Is that the main differentiator? Not the use of a microphone to create the transcription?

danielmarkbruce•about 3 hours ago

From a legal perspective you can't record something in many us states. Using the microphone, keeping the bits in memory while you turn it into text, probably doesn't meet any reasonable definition of "record".

alwillis•about 3 hours ago

It doesn't save a recording of someone speaking; it's 15 seconds of a transcription.

testfrequency•about 3 hours ago

My understanding is it’s E2E transcribed dictation via PCC? Is that not the case?

Insanity•about 3 hours ago

I guess it was already technically possible with phones though, or hidden tape recorders for something more old-school. Not sure on the legality.

rootusrootus•about 3 hours ago

Recordings, yes, but this is transcription.

LeoPanthera•about 3 hours ago

They made it very clear that it doesn't record anything.

ryanschaefer•about 3 hours ago

If it doesn’t record anything how does it make a transcript? I think some of these laws are strict enough such that no audio recording, even if it’s immediately discarded, is legal.

But of course, I am not a lawyer.

ridgeguy•about 2 hours ago

An audio "recording" is data (digital, analog, grooves on vinyl, whatever) that allows later listening to the original audio.

What Apple is doing in Rewind is as legal as if you were to take a contemporary transcript of a conversation. That's not illegal.

It's legal even if you're a skilled shorthand transcriber and get every word. That's Rewind, if I've understood it correctly.

danielmarkbruce•about 3 hours ago

People generally don't think of keeping bits in memory for some short period of time as "recording".

verytrivial•31 minutes ago

Huh, this "Readiness" innovation seems really similar to the "HybridCharge" my Amazfit watch has had for a couple of years (but obviously at literally 10x the price, but you do whatever you want with your money, chaps...)

brandonb•about 3 hours ago

The 4th generation heart rate sensor is quite interesting -- Apple Watch used to sample every ~5 minutes, and now it's every 5 seconds (basically continuous). I think that'll enable a lot of interesting health & wellness use cases.

skadamat•about 3 hours ago

It's interesting because during workouts, the heart rate sensor samples every 5 seconds but besides that, it was either every 2 or 5 minutes. I'm guessing the battery drain is too much to have it sample every 5 seconds all the time!

danek_szy•about 3 hours ago

Too bad Apple reserved the [training] Readiness feature only for the Ultra 4 - I'm pretty sure Ultra 3 and probably below are just as well equipped to provide such insight...

ShinyLeftPad•34 minutes ago

non ultra apple watch has it too

smeeth•about 3 hours ago

Dear Apple,

I want to send you my money, but your expensive watch I want to buy is f**ing massive and my wrist is normally sized. I don't really understand why this is still an issue since it's been 4 years.

Thanks,

- Guy with slightly below average wrist circumference (40th %ile)

alistairSH•about 3 hours ago

An "Ultra Mini" with a proper lap button would open my wallet very quickly.

Jubijub•about 2 hours ago

Same, I’d pay for more physical buttons

alistairSH•about 1 hour ago

I just want the extra (vs non-Ultras) button THAT'S ALREADY THERE to allow mapping to "lap". Blew my mind that wasn't possible when I went to try one at the apple store.

tiahura•about 3 hours ago

I’m probably 60% and would feel ridiculous wearing one.

rudimentary_phy•11 minutes ago

I bought an Ultra 3 and was quite disappointed with it. The heart rate monitor frequency is really low. I'm glad to see they have at least fixed that. I dual-wield right now with a Fitbit Air to supplement the data.

VCFundedGenYer•about 1 hour ago

"A batter you can't outrun" actually the gen 1 Pebble from literally 2013 still runs circles around this thing.

mwidell•about 2 hours ago

So apparently Siri AI is not coming to my part of the world anytime soon because of EU law. With that, I see no reason at all to upgrade from my Ultra 1, as not much else has improved in any meaningful way in 3 years. Don't get me wrong, I love my Ultra 1. But I had hoped for more innovation in three generations of it.

noja•about 1 hour ago

Not because of eu law. Because Apple wants an exception to the rules.

cromka•about 1 hour ago

They don't get it. Malicious compliance. So many credible proofs of them doing it, but people still rather be apologists for a trillion dollars company.

mikestew•about 4 hours ago

The only thing keeping on a Garmin is that my OG AW Ultra probably won't last a mountain 50 miler (I've used it for easier 50 mile races). If it truly lasts anywhere near 45 hours, even my old, slow ass could knock out 100 miles in that time.

Plus satellite comms on the AW (which I'd have to spend money to upgrade the 965 to get that feature). I just might pick one up next week.

danek_szy•about 3 hours ago

[Dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49631121 - this one seems to have more lively discussion

thomasahle•about 2 hours ago

It's surprising that in 2026 they still haven't figured out how to remove the bezels. They are smaller than they used to be, but On something as compact a watch, all screen estate counts.

bilsbie•about 3 hours ago

When are they going to detect blood sugar?

michelb•about 3 hours ago

When the patent trolls die down and accuracy improves.

silksowed•about 3 hours ago

As someone who often backpacks off grid, the features listed are pretty interesting. Anyone have any alternative products this competes with? The "adventure" watch is a new thing for me

mikestew•about 1 hour ago

Not to be too dismissive, but have you heard of Garmin, Suunto, Coros, or Polar? They all have something similar.

neon_me•about 2 hours ago

Having Garmin Enduro with 3+ weeks of battery life seems funny to watch apples ultra ads ...

vablings•about 1 hour ago

The battery life being so short is just pathetic. My Garmin can last up to two whole weeks in a similar form factor and its pretty much the only differentiation

cute_boi•about 2 hours ago

> For everyday use, Apple Watch Ultra 4 now offers more than two days of battery life, up to 50 hours.

This is the reason i don't like these smart watches... I always forget to charge the watch.....

amelius•about 2 hours ago

You just plug in your devices when you go to sleep. I don't get why that is difficult.

stetrain•about 2 hours ago

That does diminish the sleep tracking benefits. It's still doable, but now it becomes "remember to charge your watch at least an hour before bedtime" which isn't as simple of a routine.

angulardragon03•about 1 hour ago

If you’re using the sleep tracking features, the watch will remind you if it thinks it won’t have the juice to get through the night.

15 mins of charging during a shower is usually all I do for my S9

amelius•about 1 hour ago

Hmm okay I haven't though about that.

ktallett•about 3 hours ago

Two days is so poor for a ultra watch. The fact it won't last a full weekend let alone any significant hike just means it doesn't fit the market it is aiming at.

gruturo•43 minutes ago

A weekend? How about a full week at the absolute bare minimum, if not more.

3 days is a complete joke. Competitors have battery lives measured in weeks rather than days (a famous, and still 100% appropriate, quote by Garmin. Now 5 years old and counting, and the situation is still as ridiculously bad).

Seriously what is it even doing to justify going through the battery so fast? Are they just bad at programming?

Dlemlo•about 3 hours ago

$800 for a watch.

Man we lost it as a society.

Others are not able to eat, die because of insulin prices, struggle every day and we sit here on HN and people are thinking about buying the next gadget.

A watch for $800...

_fw•about 3 hours ago

Sorry to inform you about Patek Phillipe:

https://www.watches-of-switzerland.co.uk/Patek-Philippe-24-H...

Dlemlo•about 3 hours ago

This is not a consumer product but a homage to craftmanship and clearly a luxury product.

Apple is a mass produced product under shitty work conditions.

jawilson2•about 3 hours ago

Yes, you're correct, billionaires should not exist, and we should keep raising taxes until that is true. The "real" max wealth number is probably a bit lower, but 10 digits of wealth is a good starting point.

SoftTalker•about 3 hours ago

I understand the sentiment, but you can spend a lot more than that on a watch if you want to, and for a watch that does a lot less. Few people do though, and a lot of people will probably buy the Apple.

rootusrootus•about 3 hours ago

> die because of insulin prices

Where does that happen? Even without insurance in America insulin is like 25 bucks a month.

Dlemlo•about 3 hours ago

Minnesota in 2017, when you search for Alec Smith.

rootusrootus•about 3 hours ago

A tragic case, and maybe things were different back then. Now, Lilly caps their insulin out-of-pocket costs at $35/month, insurance or not. Walmart has cheap no-insurance insulin, too, I'm not sure if that was true in 2017 though. Alec was trying to ration a much more expensive insulin variant, which definitely sucks, and laws were changed in response to his story.

throw1234567891•about 3 hours ago

Glancing at Richard Mille watches and thinking... $800, peanuts.

onlyrealcuzzo•about 3 hours ago

You do realize people have been paying tens of thousands for watches for decades, right (and for hand bags, sunglasses, necklaces, rings, etc)?

$800 is not particularly egregious.

Dlemlo•about 3 hours ago

And?

Is this an apple fanboy club and critisism is not allowed or you don't think this critisim is valid because of your strawman argument?

mvanbaak•18 minutes ago

you are allowed to criticize apple as much as you like. The response was on your 'really? 800 for a watch' remark.

watches that go for 100k or more are not uncommon

lab14•about 3 hours ago

How much of your networth have you donated to the starving people? Nature is pretty metal and doesn't care about justice. I thought we all learned this in school.

Dlemlo•about 3 hours ago

This is not an apple fan club. Someone likes it and comments, i use it to bring up a comment like this.

Just don't deflect.

Btw. i'm from a country with a social system soooo

orf•about 3 hours ago

Insulin shouldn’t be expensive. What’s that got to do with high-end smartwatch pricing?

rstupek•about 3 hours ago

Insulin isn't expensive. Walmart sells 100 doses for $77

Dlemlo•about 3 hours ago

You do understand that this was headlines for years? Did you complelty ignore that?

It only got 'fixed' 2023 and insulin still costs $30-50 per month for something you need to live.

Dlemlo•about 3 hours ago

I'm referencing us american people who were unable to afford insulin due to us americans shitty healtcaresystem.

Search for Alec Smith in Minnesota.

Its social critic, you did not get that? A country which let their own people die but also make such a product.

SoftTalker•about 3 hours ago

It's more a comment about what we value as a society. An Apple watch is an utterly optional accessory that nobody needs. And yet there's a bubble of rather wealthy people who will buy them without really giving it a second thought, and another large group of people who really can't afford one but will buy it anyway.

orf•about 3 hours ago

Man that’s so deep - some people are purchasing things while other people cannot purchase said things.

Society is so screwed :/

matchbok3•about 3 hours ago

There's also a bubble of wealthy people who spend their time commenting on HN articles, complaining about .... other wealthy people.

For what purpose? Virtue signaling?

throw1234567891•about 3 hours ago

And? People buy what they want to buy. Apple builds what people want to buy. Been like this forever.

jryan49•about 3 hours ago

I mean how often do you buy a watch? Compare with how much do you spend on groceries every month...

Dlemlo•about 3 hours ago

We can have real arguments, but lets be clear, comparing a $800 dollar watch you use for lisening to music and paying is not the thing to compare to something you actually need to live.

mvanbaak•17 minutes ago

worse when you pay 100k+ for a watch you can only use to ... read the time (the patek watches that were mentioned earlier for example)

timothyduong•about 2 hours ago

There is the non ultra series and SE series.

What are you talking about?

nradov•about 3 hours ago

Interesting but the short battery life and 40m (130ft) scuba diving depth limit still make it useless for me.

nvahalik•about 2 hours ago

130ft/40m is standard limit for non-tec diving.

Past that depth, you will be using diving computers and not a smartwatch. And the training you receive will help you to understand why.

nradov•about 1 hour ago

Who is "you"? I have the training and sometimes go significantly deeper. I use a competing Garmin smartwatch, works great. Do you understand why?

gruturo•about 1 hour ago

You go significantly deeper? You're aware that shortly past 50mt the partial pressure of oxygen causes neurotoxicity, leading to convulsions and death? Anything happening past those depths involves extremely expensive hardware, custom trimix breathing gases and most importantly a hell of a good reason to even bother doing it - that is NOT the environment for an Apple Watch.

nvahalik•about 1 hour ago

How deep are you going? What gas mixtures are you using? Which Garmin are you using? If you're using a Mk3i or a G2 (or related) you are using a diving computer in a smart watch form factor. It is custom built for this... unlike the Apple Watch Ultra.

anukin•about 3 hours ago

40m diving is more than good for a lot of divers. I am allowed to go on a 30m dive and that’s probably at the 75 percentile of divers.

still-learning•about 2 hours ago

Looks like you'll be one of the only people using dive watches for their actual purpose then.

nradov•about 1 hour ago

There are dozens of us!