Should you buy an Ultra 2 or wait for the rumored Ultra 3?
Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Ultra 2: Design
Two years later, is the Apple Watch Ultra 3 still going to feel as much a revelation as the original did? The short answer: probably not, judging by the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s iterative update. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is not expected to have many major design upgrades over the Ultra 2. And even that second-gen model’s biggest leap was in display brightness, while we were fairly happy with the searing intensity of the original Watch Ultra’s OLED. With the upcoming Apple event on September 9 rumored to contain an Ultra 3, the question everyone is asking is this: should I wait and buy the Ultra 3, or just buy the Ultra 2 now?
Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Ultra 2 : Display
According to rumor, it sounds like some of you may be disappointed with the Apple Watch Ultra 3’s screen. At one point we expected Apple to release a Watch Ultra 3 with amicroLED, rather than OLED, screen in 2024 or 2025. That project has now been canned according to reliable Apple leaker Mark Gurman, because costs were simply too high.
Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Ultra 2 : Health Features
At least three new Apple Watch health features are known to be in the works over at Apple HQ. These are sleep apnea detection, blood pressure readings and blood glucose monitoring.
The one we absolutely don’t expect to see in the Apple Watch Ultra 3 this year is blood glucose monitoring. While non invasive blood glucose readings are something of a holy grail among wearables — non invasive blood glucose readings — this stuff is far from easy to implement using the rumored method of blood spectroscopy.
This would in effect mean letting those with diabetes monitor their condition using the same array of LEDs and light sensors on the back of the Apple Watch 2 used to analyse heart rate and blood oxygenation. This might be up to seven years away in a newsletter from 2023.
Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Ultra 2 Power and Bettery Life
There have been few strong or interesting rumors surrounding the Apple Watch’s processor, not least because Apple does not tend to make concrete claims about Watch series brains’ performance or specs.
It seems safe to assume it may be called the Apple S10, though, given the Watch Ultra 2 has an Apple S9 chipset. 9to5Mac posits that the new processor may pave the way for AI in a future software update. This would fit the current roll-out of Apple Intelligence. This chipset could, and perhaps should, come with some efficiency gains. However, we don’t expect Apple to alter its battery life estimates for the Apple Watch 3. Out best current guess is the 36 hours of normal use and 72 hours in the Low Power Mode will stay in place.