Apple has just announced the Apple Watch Ultra 3, and the headlines make it sound like a beast: a brighter screen, better battery life, stronger connectivity, and a handful of new health features. On paper, it’s all very impressive. But if you’re wearing an Ultra 2 on your wrist right now, hold your horses! I’ll walk you through why you might want to wait and see for a while, even skip this generation, in this video right here:
The changes in Ultra 3 are real, but they’re subtle. The display gets thinner bezels and improved viewing angles, though in truth the Ultra 2’s screen was already excellent and you’ll struggle to notice the difference in day-to-day use. Battery life has crept up from around 36 hours to roughly 42, and charging is a little faster. Nice, but hardly transformative, especially when so many rival sports watches boast far longer endurance.
Connectivity is where Ultra 3 flexes a bit harder, with 5G and stronger satellite support. It sounds heroic, the sort of feature that might save your life in the wilderness, but it comes tied to a watch that still only runs for 42 hours on a charge. If you’re really venturing that far off-grid, you’ll probably want to bring something with a longer leash. Additionally, there are new health features, such as hypertension notifications and Apple’s new Sleep Score. Both sound like the kind of big innovations you’d only find on the latest hardware. Except they aren’t. These are software features built into watchOS 26 (available now), which means they are also available to the previous generation.
So what are you missing if you stick with your Ultra 2? Not much. The extra six hours of battery are nice, but hardly life-changing. The slightly brighter screen is welcome, but the Ultra 2’s display was already one of the best in the business. Satellite and 5G upgrades are cool, but for the majority of us, the previous generation Ultra will keep you connected just fine. And those shiny new health insights will be waiting for you after the software update.
Now, if you’re still wearing the original Ultra 1 or looking to get into the Ultra world for the first time the leap makes more sense. You’ll feel the benefit of the new processor, improved health tracking, brighter screen, and better battery management. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is an evolution, not a revolution. It’s the right watch if you’re buying fresh, or if you’re jumping up from the first Ultra.