Apple today introduced the Apple Watch Ultra 4, its rugged sports watch, now featuring a new Health Sensing System and the S11 chip, which the company says delivers the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable. The watch is available to pre-order today, with general availability beginning Friday, September 18, in natural and black titanium finishes.
The Health Sensing System, which pairs new optical and electrical heart sensors with the S11 chip, measures heart rate every five seconds throughout the day and boosts heart rate variability (HRV) readings up to 24 times more often. A new readiness score gives users a daily 0-10 rating with recommendations like Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It, based on activity, vitals, and sleep. The watch also gains a redesigned pedometer that Apple claims is the most accurate step tracking of any smartwatch.
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Battery life is extended: more than two days of typical use (up to 50 hours), up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode, and a new Extended Workout mode that tracks outdoor workouts with full GPS and heart rate for up to 25 hours, a 25 percent increase over the previous model. A Max Extended Workout mode stretches that to 45 hours, which Apple says is typically enough for a 100-mile race, while still taking GPS readings every second. Charging is faster, with 15 minutes adding up to 18 hours of battery.
Later this year, the watch will gain Audio Intelligence features, including Sound Recognition for alerts like sirens or a baby crying, and Live Rewind, which shows the previous 15 seconds of a conversation with a double press of the Digital Crown. The redesigned Health app on iPhone, arriving later this year in U.S. English, adds a Longevity tab with a Health Age feature and lets users schedule and purchase lab tests covering over 50 biomarkers for $119 at about 2,000 Quest Diagnostics locations in the U.S.
The announcement follows Apple's introduction of the Apple Watch Series 12, which also features the Health Sensing System. Apple says the Ultra 4 is its most rugged and capable Apple Watch, and the company's vice president of Worldwide Apple Watch Product Marketing, Kaiann Drance, said in a statement that the new system takes the watch "to the next level, delivering longer battery life, faster charging, and the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable".
