The new Apple Watch Ultra 2 is designed to tempt those who don’t yet have an Apple Watch (or were thinking of upgrading to a regular Apple Watch)
Since its appearance in 2015, the Apple watch has evolved in a curious way: he has dedicated his career to specialization. What seemed like a somewhat generically designed device found its market in Health and the sport.
Apple He was very brave with him Ultra. We’ve all heard the comparison that a Apple watch it can’t compete with the big guys dads technological devices on the market: devices designed for extreme sportssuch as marathons, diving and more.
He Ultra It also put on the table a design change that served three major sports groups, in the same physical format that positioned itself very well and started playing in the same league as Garmin and the like. The courage was precisely to enter the industry in such a strong way that no one expected the Apple watch could compete.
Apple Watch Ultra 2, extra reinforcements
Last year, as stated in the analysis of Apple Watch Ultra I found it remarkable because it was supported by the pillars of everything we enjoy Apple. It is large, robust, excessive, provocative: it was a product designed not to go unnoticed.
That wasn’t the case: the design not only worked on the wrist, but also in the mountains. Or on the street. The same design is also found in the Ultra2 What Apple launched this year: absolutely imitates the look (not even mentioned”Ultra2“on the back of the box, only”Ultra“). In other times we would have called him a Ultra “S”.
I won’t deny that in September, while I was attending the keynote in truth Apple Park in California I expected at least a color change. Space gray or even midnight black that worked so well with MacBook Pro M3 of this generation.
That change would have been great for this new model, but Apple considers it a iteration compared to the previous one, an improvement “under the hood”. This is why it is practically impossible to distinguish it with the naked eye Ultra2 compared to the previous model, at least with the screen off.
As for the design, a year later – and a few more adventures – it still looks absolutely sensational and beautiful to me (especially with the new dials this year). You don’t have to take it for a dive or a triathlon to wear it: the combination of materials, project and the possibilities distil pure technology and the different straps They make it a product that can absolutely be worn on almost any occasion. From diving suits to work overalls.
New S9 processor with improvements in the Neural Engine
Precisely considering this generation an internal improvement compared to last year, I have focused the analysis of this model as a daily testing process over the last two months. From the first public version which already allowed one of the new features of the Ultra2– Double tap to control certain actions with a gesture.
There’s just something to clarify that has caused some confusion with the look of this feature. In previous models, from the section accessibilityit was possible to control the watch with certain gestures, essentially designed for people with mobility problems.
This feature on older models takes advantage of the power of the main processor – THE processor – evaluate the microchanges that occur in blood flow when the forearm muscles move. Just when using the processor Mainly, the function itself already warns that battery consumption will be higher if we activate it.
The biggest news is this Apple Watch Ultra 2 it is the incorporation of an update Apple Silicon chips called S9. This processor improves the GPU (in theory 30% more), but it is especially so in the new one Neural motor quad-core which is twice as fast as the chip S8 where is the difference.
I started testing these last three months with some light diving. Then, the daily routine.
Inside Apple Watch Ultra 2 (and also in Apple Watch series 9), this process improvement Machine learning They are used to capture data that controls gestural touch and download it to the main processor. This means only the new Ultra2 Yes Series 9 They can leave it on by default without affecting the battery (and this is why older models can’t use it this way).
The new processor is also used to improve the voice detection experience Siri and dictated locally. This improves the process of interpreting our voice, especially if we do not have an Internet connection (via for example). In daily tests, where I noticed it more than in the fidelity of the transcription, it is in the speed of detection of our words.
For the depths or for our mornings
For the last two months I have been trying the Ultra2 the same way I tested the Ultra original in the last year: as a watch for everyday use, but also for sports. The behavior is identical to the previous one: improvements in this one Ultra2 They are designed for those who don’t have their predecessor or anything Apple watchmore than upgrading it from a recent model.
I have noticed, however, an improvement in the detection of sensors when we use the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for diving. In the previous generation they were already fast, but this time they give the impression of being instantaneous and underwater the precision seems much finer.
At the end of September I had the opportunity to try it on a dive and the experience is still unbeatable – and I only used the app. Dip basic clock. It detected dive speed with a good balance between descent and depth changes, and stopping if the descent was too rapid alerted it instantly visually and tactilely.
One of the things I liked about the dive was the better display of the screen in areas where the sand made the water less clear. This is because another of the improvements of this Ultra2 compared to the previous one is that it doubles the nits from the screen to 3000.
Actually, those nits They are a measure of maximums. That is, in everyday life – at home, in the office, on the subway, in bright sunlight or at night – it is likely that we will not notice this improvement because it will rarely be necessary to increase the brightness, always adjusted for optimal vision. . This is controlled by S9 through the sensors of the clock. Under water, in conditions of poor visibility, I noticed a big improvement, a much clearer and brighter screen, perfect for the somewhat complicated conditions of diving.
Of course, if you come from a watch from several generations ago, you will notice the change in the screen right from the first moment: not only due to the greater space compared to a Apple watch conventional, but for the quality of this screen – which is also better protected inside the case. Titanium From 49mm of the Ultra to avoid accidental breakages due to impacts on the edges.
Double tap gestures
As mentioned above, the new chip S9 allows you to use the double-tap gesture – a “double pinch” in the air – to control some of the foreground functions we see on the screen. The gesture is very intuitive and works well 99% of the time, as long as we have the watch active (i.e. facing towards us). This helps save energy if we are not using the watch (because it does not “intervene” if double pinching occurs).
The gesture is very simple to perform and does not require prior training: it is Apple who carried out that work of “teaching” the S9 what is a double tap and its translation into mathematical parameters detected in the flow of information in everyday use. I’m honestly surprised at how easy it works, despite it being a first implementation within the Neural motor.
Uses are limited to the action marked in the foreground, i.e. the active button. For example, when we receive a message, the active button is always the reply, so the double tap gesture will always activate this function. I missed a way to navigate between the different options to have even more freedom of movement, which I have no doubt will be implemented in future software versions.
The best Apple Watch around
Last year the company bet everything on an extreme model, something that in 2023 continued to update it and prepare it for the future. At the level of quality, materials Yes technologyis the best Apple watch that exists – I’d even go so far as to say that it’s the best smartwatch we can buy right now.
The improvements with S9 They are just the tip of the iceberg of small improvements compared to their predecessor that help us a lot in our daily lives – such as the search for precision. This is possible thanks to the new chip ultra-wide band new generation (the same one that has the iPhone15), with which we can search for our iPhone from the Ultra2 as if it were a AirTags.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 [GPS + Cellular] Smartwatch with 49 mm resistant titanium case and ocean blue strap. Training monitor, high precision GPS, action button, extraordinary autonomy
*Some prices may have changed since the last review
The price is approx €100 cheaper than the previous year’s model (€899) and, as I said, it is designed to tempt those who have not Apple watch relatively new o Ultra. There are also new straps, two of which have been produced completely carbon neutral (the Alpine ring and the Ring trail), as part of the plan Apple be totally carbon neutral in their products for 2030. More prepared than ever for our adventures, whether we’re having fun sport or in the jungle of everyday life.
In Applesphere | Apple Watch Ultra, analysis: excessive, courageous, technological
2023-12-29 23:01:42
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