We are almost a week away from Apple’s September 9 new product announcements, so Brett and I begin this week’s episode of the In the News podcast by discussing the speculation on what might be included in the 2024 version of the iPhone, including the rumor that there will be a dedicated hardware button for taking pictures. I’m enthusiastic about that possibility, but Brett is worried that it may be one button too many. We also discuss a possible update to the AirPods Max, new spatial videos coming out in just a few days for the Apple Vision Pro, the state of the Apple Books store, digital driver’s licenses, and more.
In our Where Y’At? segment, we discuss how one person used an AirPod to track down her child when the school could not find him.
In our In the Know segment, Brett mentions a website that pokes fun at a decision that Apple made many years ago and we discuss why that decision seems to have made sense. I explain how to protect your privacy by limiting what the Lock Screen shows when you get a new email.
We learned this week that September 9 is the day when Apple will announce the new iPhone for 2024. And as I explained earlier this week, while you are marking your calendar, you might also want to do so for September 9 in 2025 and 2026 as well. There are lots of rumors on what we might see, Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac does a good job of running them all down. Of course, we will see a new iPhone, and it is rumored to have a slightly larger display, more RAM (which will be helpful for handling on-device AI), a faster processor, new colors including a brown/tan/bronze color, 5x optical zoom on the entry-level models, better low light photography, and more. But the rumor that has intrigued me the most is a new physical button on the side of the iPhone that would serve as a shutter button to instantly take a picture without the need to launch the Camera app first. It is rumored to have some neat features such as the ability to focus by pressing the button lightly (similar to a half-press of the button on an SLR camera), take a picture by pressing it all the way, and zooming in and out by swiping left and right. Considering that it would be more accurate to call my iPhone an iCamera since I use it to take pictures frequently, the rumor of a shutter button has me intrigued. We might also see new models of the AirPods, a new Apple Watch that is thinner with a larger screen, a new iPad mini, and who knows what else. It is all coming in less than ten days, and I’m very excited about the announcements. And now, the news of note from the past week:
David Sparks of MacSparky discusses the rumor that Apple is about to release a second version of the AirPods Max. I have never had a need for an AirPods Max and they are too expensive to buy on a lark, but I’ve always thought that they might be fun to have in certain circumstances.
Joe Rossignol of MacRumors wonders whether we will see a new Apple TV in 2024, and suggests that a new model could include a camera for videoconferencing. Using a current Apple TV with an iPhone provides great quality for videochats with friends and family, but getting the iPhone connected to the Apple TV is a little complicated. Having a single unit with the camera built-in would be much nicer and easier to use.
This past week, Hawaii added support for storing a driver’s license in the iPhone’s wallet app. Unfortunately, as reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, you still need to have your physical ID with you when you are driving. Wallet support in Hawaii, like some other states, is offered as a convenience, not as a replacement. Here in Louisiana where I live, we have a digital wallet app called LA License that works just like a physical license so you can drive a car with just the digital license. It even works with TSA at a large number of airports, but TSA requires that you also have a physical ID when you travel.
Dan Moren of Six Colors believes that despite the potential for Apple to do so much more with Apple Books, the company instead seems to be headed in the wrong direction.
If you ever bring in your iPhone to be fixed and the Apple Store decides to replace it instead of fixing it, Apple is likely giving you a refurbished unit. That shouldn’t be a problem in most circumstances, but as Finn Voorhees explains, he could no longer use Snapchat when he got his replacement iPhone. Although the contents of the phone were erased, Snapchat was apparently still associating a hardware number for the device with a previous user that it had banned.
Apple says that AirTags are not designed for tracking people or pets, but people still do it. William Gallagher of AppleInsider reports on a woman in Illinois who put an AirTags in her kindergarten son’s backpack, and it is a good thing that she did so because the school lost track of her boy and she was able to track him to a school bus and find him again.
Ted Lasso is coming back! Michaela Zee of Variety reports that Season 4 of Ted Lasso is now being planned. Warner Bros. has picked up the options on British actors Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, and Jeremy Swift, and the actors who are part of SAG here in the U.S. will presumably be put under contract next. Jason Sudeikis is expected to have a much more limited role, and Phil Dunster (who played Jamie Tart) may be tied up on other projects, but as long as we have most of the cast along with the same great writing, Season 4 should be great fun to watch. Believe!
I have not yet watched the Napoleon movie on Apple TV+, in part because of the mixed reviews. I heard that it was a beautiful movie, but that much of the plot had to be cut out to reduce the running-time of the movie, making it seem more disjointed. As reported by Matt Grobar of Deadline, Apple has now released a Director’s Cut version of the movie that adds 48 more minutes for a new running time of almost three and a half hours. So this is the version that I plan to watch, perhaps breaking it into a few different nights as if it were a mini-series.
And finally, Season 4 of the fantastic Apple TV+ show Slow Horses debuts in just a few days on September 4, and here is a short, fun, spoiler-free video to get you ready:
Four years ago in 2020, when Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, Apple also introduced two new watch bands that have no buckles and instead use stretchy materials. As a result, you can simply slip them on and off of your wrist. One of those bands is the $49 Solo Loop, and as I noted in my review, it is one of my all-time favorite Apple Watch bands. I own a few in different colors, and I have worn them frequently for many years. The other one introduced in 2020 is the $99 Braided Solo Loop. I purchased one recently to try it out and see how it compares to the fantastic Solo Loop. Overall, it is a good band, and this is your best option if you like the idea of being able to quickly slip the watch on and off but you don’t like the rubbery feel of a Solo Loop. But if you do like the Solo Loop, I don’t consider this band twice as good even though it is twice the price.
The Braided Solo Loop, like the Solo Loop, doesn’t have a clasp, so you cannot adjust the size. That means that you need to measure yourself, or go to an Apple Store where they can measure you, to get the right size, from Size 1 to Size 9 for the 41 mm Apple Watch, and from Size 1 to Size 12 for the 45 mm Apple Watch. I have a larger wrist (around 21 cm), and I use a Size 12.
According to the Apple Watch website Bandbreite, the Braided Solo Loop has been available in 32 colors over the years, 7 of which are available this season. Perhaps we will get even more new colors on or after the Apple event on September 9, 2024. I had hoped to get a darker blue or green, but those colors are not currently available, so I went for black.
The Braided Solo Loop, like the Solo Loop, stretches to fit around your wrist. This makes it incredibly fast and easy to slip on and off. It also means that you don’t feel any sort of buckle against your skin. Also, there is no risk of a buckle coming undone or catching on something and your watch falling off.
Unlike the Solo Loop, which Apple says is made of liquid silicone rubber, the Braided Solo Loop is created by weaving polyester yarn filaments around silicone threads. So instead of a rubbery feel, the Braided Solo Loop has the feel of a textured, soft canvas except that it is stretchy. I know that some people complain that they get too much sweat caught under the rubbery Solo Loop band, although that has never been a problem for me. For those folks, the Braided Solo Loop may be preferable because it breathes more thanks to the weave.
Another result of the weave is that the band feels soft against your arm. The feel is somewhat similar to Apple’s Sport Loop, which is made of a nylon weave and is very comfortable, as I noted in my review from five years ago. But unlike the Sport Loop, you can easily stretch this band.
Although both the Braided Solo Loop and the Solo Loop are stretchy and thus hug your wrist, there seems to be less tension with the Braided Solo Loop. Don’t get me wrong, it is not like it is loose enough to slide up and down my wrist, which would be something that I definitely would not like. The elasticity keeps it in place. But it is just a slightly looser feel. I’ve heard a few reports that after years of use, the Braided Solo Loop can loosen up considerably, so much so that some people recommend going one size smaller with the Braided Solo Loop than you would with a Solo Loop. After less than two weeks of regular use, however, I haven’t noticed this Braided Solo Loop band getting any looser on my wrist, and I’m happy with selecting the same size that I use with the regular Solo Loop.
Conclusion
The Braided Solo Loop is a very comfortable watch band. It is easy to slip on and off, and the weave is comfortable against the wrist. Wearing this watch band is almost akin to slipping a comfortable sock on your foot. My only real complaint is the price. I find the Solo Loop band to be just as comfortable and easy to slip on and off at half the price. And because it is fun to have different color watch bands to match your clothes or your mood, I’d prefer having two Solo Loop bands in two colors than one Braided Solo Loop band.
Apple announced yesterday that on Monday, September 9, Apple will stream a video event at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern. The YouTube page for the video is already online, but I usually watch using the page on the Apple website. And while Apple is not saying what it will announce, we all know that the event will at least include 2024 version of the iPhone. I suspect that we will also see the 2024 versions of the Apple Watch. Indeed, September 9, 2024, will be exactly 10 years after Apple first announced the Apple Watch (although it did not ship until April 24, 2015). I suspect we will also see new AirPods.
In the email that Apple sent around to announce the event, Apple included a glowing Siri logo combined with the Apple logo and the tagline: “It’s Glowtime.”
Does the obvious reference to Siri mean that we will see some new Siri-related features introduced on the 9th? Perhaps something related to AI: Siri + Apple intelligence? We’ll see.
Why Monday?
The choice of Monday, September 9, also strikes me as interesting because Apple usually holds this event on a Tuesday unless there is a late Labor Day, in which case it is usually on a Wednesday.
For many years now, when Labor Day occurred on September 4 or earlier, then Apple would hold the iPhone announcement on the Tuesday of the following week. For example, this occurred in 2023, 2019, 2017, 2014, and 2013. When Labor Day fell on Sept. 5 or later, then Apple would announce the new iPhone on the Wednesday that was two days after Labor Day. For example, this occurred in 2022, 2016, and 2015.
There have been two exceptions. The year 2020 was a notable exception due to COVID. Although Apple announced the new Apple Watch on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 (consistent with the pattern that I just noted), Apple alerted the world on July 30, 2020, that the iPhone introduction would be delayed several weeks, and the introduction finally occurred on October 13, 2020. The other exception was the very next year, 2021. Even though Labor Day fell on September 6, which would normally mean an iPhone announcement on September 8, Apple waited until the Tuesday of the following week, September 14, 2021, to have the new iPhone announcement. That one-week delay could have been because new iPhone supply was very low in 2021 due to the lingering effects of COVID, with people waiting up to four weeks to receive an iPhone 13 after it was purchased. Pushing back the announcement one week in 2021 may have been to allow for one additional week to build up the initial supply.
The traditional routine of introducing a new iPhone on a Tuesday—or Wednesday if it followed a Monday holiday—meant that Apple had one work day to prepare for the announcement, allowing Apple a day to get ready for the press to come to town to see the new iPhone in person. Even though Apple shifted in 2020 from live keynote addresses to streamed video announcements, it has still been hosting a (smaller) event on its campus for select members of the press to see the new iPhone in person.
But as noted above, this year, we have an exception to the normal pattern. Labor Day occurs early—on September 2, 2024—so applying the traditional pattern, we would expect an iPhone introduction on the Tuesday of the following week, which is Tuesday, September 10. Why is Apple instead hosting the event on Monday, September 9? Assuming that Apple is inviting members of the press to its campus that day, it will presumably have to pay some people to work on a Sunday to prepare.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball suggests a politics-based explanation for the move: “The first (and currently the only scheduled) debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is on Tuesday 10 September — I’ll bet Apple set this one for Monday to give them a better chance at leading the news during the 24 hours after the event.” I suppose that is possible. I haven’t yet seen any other theories, and I don’t have one myself.
Whatever the reason for the Monday announcement this year, it is interesting that if Apple returns to its normal pattern in the next two years, that means that we will have three years in a row of new iPhones being announced on September 9: Monday, September 9, 2024, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, and Wednesday, September 9, 2026. I suppose that 9/9 does have a nice ring to it.
In just a few weeks (the latest rumor says September 10), Apple is expected to announce new models of the iPhone and Apple Watch. In this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I gave you some advice that will be helpful if you are thinking of upgrading to the new versions. First, we discuss the double tap gesture available on the newest Apple Watch models and how it will soon be even better. Second, we discuss why you should consider getting an iPhone that has a 5x zoom lens, which is currently only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Third, we discuss one of the Apple Intelligence features expected to debut later this year, but only if you have one of the newest iPhones: the ability to tell the Photos app what kind of Memories movie to make based upon your pictures. Fourth, we discuss AppleCare+, which is always a consideration when you get a new device. We also discuss CarPlay, a possible future improvement to the Apple Vision Pro, and much more.
In our Where Y’At? segment, we discuss using an AirPod to catch a mail bandit.
In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for using the app launcher on the Apple Watch, and I provide a tip on what type of battery life you can expect if you get a new Apple Watch this Fall.
Apple has created and/or popularized so many great gestures on the iPhone and other products: the pinch gesture, pull-to-refresh, swipe down or up for controls, switching iPad apps by swiping with multiple fingers, the new Apple Vision Pro gestures, and so many more. When I recently reviewed the Apple Watch Ultra 2, I noted that the new double tap feature added to the Apple Watch last year is a useful gesture that could be even better if it could do more. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac notes that in the upcoming watchOS 11, this Apple Watch gesture will be far more useful because when your Apple Watch is in its default mode (showing a watch face) a double tap will bring up the new Smart Stack feature that shows the widgets you are mostly likely to want to use at any particular time. With new Apple Watches coming out in perhaps just a few weeks, there will soon be a new wave of people upgrading (or getting their first Apple Watch) and taking advantage of this new gesture. And now, the news of note from the past week:
Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac argues that the iPhone 15 introduced by Apple last year will be obsolete faster than any prior iPhone, in part because it won’t support the Apple Intelligence features that are coming soon but also because, if Apple releases a fourth generation iPhone SE this year, the iPhone 15 may pale in comparison. He makes an interesting argument, and I suspect that we will find out in just a few weeks if he is right.
Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reports that Apple is changing the rules for signing up for AppleCare+ after you purchase an Apple item. Instead of having 30 days after the original coverage expires, Apple is extending that to 45 days.
Juli Clover of MacRumors notes that you can now use Apple’s Podcasts app in a web browser. And as John Gruber of Daring Fireball points out, this could be useful if you spend time using Windows but still want to listen to your podcasts from the Apple Podcasts app.
In an article for Six Colors and Macworld, Dan Moren shares some interesting thoughts on CarPlay. On the one hand, it is a feature so beloved that many people won’t even consider purchasing a vehicle that doesn’t support it. On the other hand, because so much control lies in the hands of car manufacturers, Apple has trouble moving the technology forward.
A woman in New York got sick and tired of someone stealing her mail, so she took matters into her own hands by mailing herself an AirTag. You can probably guess what happened next, as reported by William Gallagher of AppleInsider.
Click here to see the winning pictures from the 17th annual iPhone Photography Awards. There are some great shots in there, and many of them give me ideas for making my own photos better.
The monitor that I use with my Mac mini at home (and which also works with an iPad) is the Apple Studio Display. It is fantastic. It cost $1,599 when I purchased it, but it is currently on sale at Amazon for $1,299.99, which is quite a discount.
This is just a patent application, so it is far from a shipping product. but I was excited by this story from David Schloss at AppleInsider. Apple is working on a future technology for the Apple Vision Pro that would use liquid-filed lenses and an electrical current to generate an eyeglass prescription without the need for lenses. They could be adjusted as your vision changes, and they would work better with AR environments. Sounds great!
Dark Matter was a great new TV show on Apple TV+ this year. If you like science fiction, I strongly recommend it. Peter White of Deadline reports that Apple has just renewed the show for a second season. The first season is based on a book and there is no sequel, so the folks between the show will have to come up with new stories for the second season. Hopefully, they can do it, and do it well!
If you have been using an iPad this week, then you have something in common with Vice President Kamala Harris, as shown by this picture on Threads.
And finally, I was incredibly impressed by the first version of Final Cut Pro for the iPad, and now version 2 is even more amazing. The abilities of this app are far beyond what I need when I put together my simple home videos, but I love having all of this power because every time I make a new video I find an excuse to learn about another feature that is new to me. And this app does a great job of showing how powerful the iPad Pro is. Here is a video released by Apple this week that shows some of the power of this app:
After a break last week, the In the News podcast is back. We start this episode with a brief follow-up on the discussion of old PDAs from the last episode, in which we show that sometimes, everything old is new again. We then discuss the Ultra line of the Apple Watch. Brett has been using the first-generation Ultra for a long time, and I’ve spent almost two weeks with the Ultra 2. What makes the Ultra line special, what are the drawbacks, and is an Apple Watch Ultra right for you? We discuss all of that. Next, we discuss the Spatial Photos feature that is coming soon to the Apple Vision Pro, what makes a portable battery for the iPhone a great portable battery, using iPhones to referrer soccer matches, some of the great shows coming to Apple TV+ this Fall, and much more.
In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for flipping around your Apple Watch and explains why you might want to do so, and I share a tip for sleep tracking with the Apple Watch and explain why you might want to do so—especially when watchOS is updated in a few weeks.
The Apple Vision Pro is too expensive, too big and heavy, and still an immature platform. But I love mine dearly, not just because it is so fun to use now, but also because it is a glimpse into the future of personal electronics. When these devices are lighter, smaller, and cheaper, Apple will have a hit on its hands. I’ve often said that the best part of using an Apple Vision Pro is enjoying the (still too limited) fully immersive video content created by Apple. (The new video added last week showing baby elephants is yet another great one.) But perhaps the second best part of a Vision Pro is enabled in the upcoming visionOS 2.0 software, which I’m currently using as a developer preview. Apple is adding the ability to take any photo and, with the click of one button, turn it into a 3D spatial photo. Dan Moren of Six Colors tried out the feature this week and calls it a “killer feature,” adding: “The results are nothing short of astounding: subjects that pop out of pictures, environments that look like they have real depth, objects that you feel like you could reach out and touch.” Whether I’m looking at relatively recent photos of family and friends or much older pictures of things like my wedding, these spatial photos are something something special. It is amazing how a photo can tug at the heartstrings in a brand new way when you feel a little bit like you are there again. And now, the news of note from the past week:
A week ago, I raved about the first of a two-part set of podcasts from Twenty Thousand Hertz called the Sound of Apple. The second part came out this week, and it is also great. It focuses on iPhone sounds and tells you the story behind the default phone ring sounds, alert sounds, and even the sounds that are used for tapbacks in Messages. Great stuff, highly recommended.
Although my daughter played soccer for many years, I never did fully understand the offside rules. Apparently, officials have difficulty with the rule too, because Malcolm Owen of Apple Insider reports that the English Premier League is adopting a new system that uses dozens of iPhones and high frame rate video to watch for infractions. Ted Lasso may be over, but Apple is still leaving its mark on the pitch.
When you think about Apple making iPhones overseas, you probably think of China. But as William Gallagher of Apple Insider notes, Apple is now the fastest-growing company in India in light of a 20-fold increase in iPhones made in India and a big increase in the number of iPhones sold in India.
Pixar released a teaser trailer for Toy Story 5, which comes out in 2026. But as Charles Martin of AppleInsider notes, they did it by reusing Apple Watch facts that have been out since 2017. Too funny.
There is a new movie on Apple TV+ called The Instigators, and Lewis Wallace of Cult of Mac says that it is old-school action-comedy fun. I watched it last weekend, and I enjoyed it.
Ryan Christofel of 9to5Mac describes the big shows coming to Apple TV+ this Fall. It includes Slow Horses Season 4 (Sept. 4), Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt (Sept. 27), Disclaimer starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline (Oct. 11), Shrinking Season 2 (Oct. 16), Silo Season 2 (Nov. 15), and more. And of course, Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn is available now.
And finally, to celebrate the start of the upcoming start of the Paralympic Games, Apple released a cool video this week showing how Apple products can help lots of different athletes. The video is called The Relay:
Almost three years ago, I purchased an Apple Watch Series 7 (45 mm, Silver Stainless Steel). I gave it a rave review, and I wore it every single day since. Recently, however, I’ve noticed that the battery was sometimes not mkaing it to the end of a long day. Thus, I had been planning to get a new watch this Fall when Apple introduces the 2024 models.
Unfortunately, my Apple Watch stopped working earlier this month. When I brought it to my local Apple Store, with the hope that it was just a $99 battery repair, I was told that it was a motherboard issue that would cost $399 to fix. Instead, I purchased a new watch, aware that the Apple Store gives you two weeks to try out a product and then return it if you don’t like it. The watch that I purchased was one that I have been curious to try for a while: the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Now that I have used it, I am very impressed. If you can, I recommend waiting until September before you purchase any Apple Watch just in case the new models offer a new feature not available on current models. But assuming that either the Ultra 2 or something similar is on sale when the new models come out, I hope that this review helps you to decide whether the Ultra line is the best Apple Watch for you.
[UPDATE 9/23/2024: Apple did not introduce a new model of the Ultra line in 2024 and continues to sell the Ultra 2. The only hardware change is that you can now select either a new Black titanium case or the original Natural titanium case. For a compare-and-contrast between the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the new Apple Watch Series 10, click here.]
The Guilt
Let me start by addressing the elephant in the room. I felt a little bit of guilt purchasing an Ultra model because I was afraid that I was purchasing something more than what I need or even deserve. The Ultra model is designed for an outdoor enthusiast. The water resistance of up to 100m is designed for scuba divers, not people like me who rarely go in a pool that is more than about 6 feet deep. The MIL-STD 810H rating means that it can handle high altitudes, high and low temperatures, shock, humidity, fungus, sand, dust, and vibration better than other watches, and that is far beyond what I need when the hardest part of my day is writing persuasive arguments. The dual-frequency GPS means that the Ultra 2 is even more precise at determining your location, but I’ve never found GPS to be insufficient on my prior Apple Watch models. And the design of the case of the watch, which is the most rugged Apple Watch ever, is great for mountain climbers but less necessary for those of us who take elevators to reach higher elevations.
If outdoor adventure is an important part of your life, there are multiple reasons that the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is perfect for you. But I’m not going to address those reasons in this review. This review is for people who are just considering an Ultra because it is a more powerful Apple Watch.
Endless battery life
The battery life of the Ultra 2 is not endless. But it might as well be.
On paper, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 battery life is twice as long as other models: 36 hours instead of 18 hours. So that means twice as good, right? Technically yes, but in practice it is so much better than that.
I’ve found that having 36 hours of battery life completely changes how you view battery life on an Apple Watch. It means that you can wear it all day long, wear it through a workout, wear it all night long, and still have lots of battery power when you wake up. I can charge it while I take a shower and get ready for my day and then I will have tons of power for the next day. Or not … even if I skip charging it in the morning, there is still lots of power.
If you want to wear an Apple Watch at night, the Ultra 2 is perfect. That means that you can do sleep tracking. When Apple releases watchOS 11 in just a few weeks or months, you will be able to use the new Vitals feature, which requires you to wear the watch all night. If I happen to wake up in the middle of the night, I like having my Apple Watch on to check the time or perhaps something else. And having my Apple Watch gently tap my wrist to wake me up in the morning without making a sound is really nice.
For many years, battery life is something that I’ve always been conscious of with my Apple Watch. But with the Ultra, I find that battery life becomes more of an afterthought. Yes, I still need to charge it from time to time. But I rarely feel concerned that my watch is almost out of power. Not having to worry about battery life is incredibly freeing. This is by far my favorite feature of the Ultra 2.
Speedy and responsive
As noted above, I had been using the Series 7 Apple Watch with a S7 processor. The Series 8 used an S8 processor, but it was largely similar to the S7 and reports say that it was not noticeably faster for most tasks. However, the Ultra 2, like the Series 9, uses a S9 processor that Apple says has 60% more transistors than the S8 and a new four-core Neural Engine processes machine learning tasks up to two times faster.
I definitely notice the increase in speed and responsiveness. Indeed, there were some tasks, like checking my email, that were so noticeably slower on my Series 7 that I sometimes wondered if they were even working. With the Ultra 2, I find myself checking email on the watch more than I ever did before because it is so much more responsible. Siri is also more responsive.
With every prior model of the Apple Watch, I would often say to myself that it is just a watch so you cannot expect it to be all that fast. But with the Ultra 2, I’m now taking speed for granted, much like I do on an iPhone. You can get this same speed advantage with the Series 9, so this isn’t a reason to pick the Ultra 2 over the Series 9. But if you are upgrading from an older Apple Watch, this is an improvement that you will appreciate.
Brightness
The Series 7 and 8 have a brightness of up to 1000 nits. The Series 9 and Ultra can get even brighter, up to 2000 nits. The Ultra 2 can get to an insane 3000 nits.
It only gets this bright when it needs to do so, but boy does it work. This past weekend, I walked around the streets of New Orleans on a very sunny day with no clouds and weather around 95º, and I was amazed when I looked at the screen of the Ultra 2 and I could read it with no difficulty at all. I guess that is what 3000 nits looks like. It was quite impressive.
If you are enjoying the outdoor adventures I mentioned above, the ones that I don’t do, this feature will be even more helpful. But even if you are just walking around the streets on a bright sunny day, the incredibly bright screen is a nice feature to have when you are outside.
Double tap
Both the Ultra 2 and the Series 9 add a new gesture for controlling the screen: the double tap. If you pinch your fingers twice on the hand next to the wrist where you are wearing your watch, the watch will detect that you have done a double tap and click the default button that is being displayed on your watch screen. However, it only does this in apps that have been updated to recognize this gesture. You can tell that it recognized your double tap because a blue circle with a pinching hand appears at the top of the screen:
For example, if you receive a phone call, the double tap answers the phone. If you receive a notification, the double tap opens the notification. If you are listening to music or a podcast using Apple’s built-in Music or Podcasts apps, the double tap will play or pause.
If you are looking at a watch face that is activated (like if you just raised your wrist), you can double tap to launch the Smart Stack (the same things that you see when you scroll using the Digital Crown or you swipe up from the bottom of the screen). You can then double tap again to move through each entry in the Smart Stack.
I like this gesture. My only complaint is that I cannot use it even more, such as in more third-party apps. But that is the fault of developers, not Apple.
Mixed feelings about the larger screen
Given that the case on the larger Series 7, 8, and 9 modes is 45mm (in height) and the Ultra 2 case is 49mm (in height), I expected to see substantially more information on the Ultra (or, alternatively, for the information displayed to be even larger). There is a little more on the Ultra 2 display, but it is not as much as I had hoped.
The Ultra 2 has more black space between the edge of the usable screen and the edge of the case—i.e., more bezel. I’m sure that this is part of the more rugged design, giving the watch more protection. But as a result, the screen is bigger than ever before, but the display is not much bigger. When the Apple Watch Series 7 was introduced in 2021, the larger model gained 36 more pixels in height and 28 more pixels in width, and it was easy to notice how much more information you could fit on the screen with that substantial increase. The Ultra 2 adds only another 18 pixels in height and only 14 pixels in width, and as a result, can only display a tiny bit more. The following picture which uses images provided by Apple over the years does a good job of showing this. (I recommend that you click the image to see it even larger.)
Most of the time that you use an Ultra, the information on the screen will look the same as a Series 7, 8, or 9. However, there are a few areas in which Apple has taken advantage of the slightly larger display. For example, when you are working out, Apple uses the extra space—along with squeezing together some of the rows—to display a sixth line of information about your workout:
Note, by the way, that you can choose which information is displayed in each of those rows except for the first one that shows elapsed time in yellow. To do so, on your watch, open the Workout app, tap on the circle with three dots to the right of a workout, then scroll down and tap Preferences, then tap the first line to edit Views, then tap the Circle with a pencil on the right next to Metrics. So if seeing one additional line of metrics is important to you, then you will appreciate the slightly larger display on the Ultra 2.
Also, there are two watch faces available only for the Ultra and Ultra 2, not other Apple Watch models: Modular Ultra and Wayfinder.
Modular Ultra quickly became the watch face that I use most of the time on my Apple Watch because it can display so much different information at one time. A digital clock is in the middle of the display. You can make the time really tall (the size of two lines), but if you keep the digital clock to one line then you have space for a large complication in the middle of your display. You can also place three small complications at the top and another three small complications at the bottom. And you can adjust what happens around the edges of the display: your current depth, your current elevation, or the seconds counting up to a minute.
The only Apple Watch display with more complications is the Infograph face (available for any Apple Watch model), which can display four small complications inside of the clock and four more in the corners, but it uses an analog watch face and I prefer a digital clock. As a reminder, this is what the Ingrograph watch face looks like:
If you want a lot of complications with a digital clock, then Modular Ultra is what you want.
Over the last few days, I have been changing which complications I use on my Modular Ultra watch face. I currently have the WeatherUp complication in the middle so that I can see the upcoming temperature and precipitation. At the top, I have complications for Overcast and Mail so that I can tap to instantly launch those apps. At the top middle, I display the current battery life, mainly so that I can marvel at how much battery life I still have left even when I haven’t charged the watch in a long time. At the bottom, I show my activity circles, the current date using the Fantastical widget (which I can tap to see my full list of events), and a Carrot Weather widget that displays current conditions and can be tapped to see much more information about the weather. And I have the seconds tick around the edge of my clock.
I’m a big fan of this watch face for numerous reasons. First, I occasionally want to see the seconds to count down the precise time, and this watch face does a great job displaying that with the seconds that go around the edges. Second, thanks to the seven complications, virtually everything that I want to see or do on the Apple Watch is right there in front of me—or very close. I swipe to the left to get to a different watch face to launch the Workout app, I swipe up from the bottom of the watch face to launch the Smart Stack. I use the button on the side to launch the Control Center. But otherwise, most of what I need is right there on the Modular Ultra watch face.
The other watch face that is unique to the Ultra and Ultra 2 is Wayfinder. Wayfinder may or may not take advantage of the extra pixels on the screen (I cannot tell) but it does take advantage of other unique features of the Ultra and Ultra 2 that are important to runners, hikers, and underwater enthusiasts:
I haven’t spent any significant time with the Wayfinder face so I cannot offer any thoughts.
One final note on the screen on the Ultra 2. Because the change from 45mm to 49mm adds more bezel than usable screen display, you will notice more of a black line around your watch face if it is a watch face that fills the entire screen. Photo watch faces will do that, as will many others such as the Stripes face. Here is the Stripes face on an Apple Watch Series 9 (left) and the Ultra 2 (right):
I think that any full-screen watch face looks nicer on the Series 7, 8, and 9 where the image goes almost all of the way to the edge of the screen. On the Ultra and Ultra 2, you see a black border. It’s a minor thing, to be sure, but I don’t like it.
Before I started using an Apple Watch Ultra 2, I had hoped that the larger screen would be a nice and noticeable improvement, just like the size increase was when I started using the Apple Watch Series 7. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. There are only a few instances in which Apple gives you more on the screen in a way that makes a difference. Fortunately for me, I love the Modular Ultra watch face, so the only slightly larger display does make a difference to me. But if you prefer a different watch face, and if the extra row on the Workout app doesn’t matter to you, then you may find that the larger 49mm case is only useful on the Ultra 2 as something that contributes to being more rugged.
Action button
The Ultra 2 has a button on the left that isn’t available on any other Apple Watch model. Apple calls it the action button and says: “It can do things like start a workout, mark a Compass Waypoint, or begin a dive. Just like you, it’s full of potential.” So far, I’m not doing anything creative with it. I’m just using it to turn on the flashlight mode on the Apple Watch. But I use the flashlight mode a few times a week, and having it just one button away is nice.
I like the Action button. It would be wonderful if Apple brought this button to all models of the Apple Watch. It is a small improvement, but a good improvement.
Chunky design
The Apple Watch Ultra 2, like the original Ultra, has a design that is unlike any other Apple Watch. It is chunky. It is larger. It has a raised area that surrounds and protects the side button and the Digital Crown, which means that you need to turn the digital crown from the top instead of the side.
I understand that the Ultra 2 needs the extra space to store the larger battery and to make the watch more rugged. And although you have less area to turn the Digital Crown, this Digital Crown has deeper groves, which makes it easier to spin than other Apple Watch models (even if you are wearing gloves). But this is still a massive design that you need to get used to.
I was afraid that the larger size would make it harder to button my long-sleeve, button-down shirts. So far, however, I haven’t had a problem with that. I also thought that it might feel too heavy on my wrist, but I actually find that I don’t notice the weight at all. For the record, the aluminum Series 9 45mm is about 39 grams, the stainless steel Series 9 is 51.5 grams, and the Ultra 2 is 61.4 grams. So it does weigh more, but I just don’t notice it.
Whether you like the design of an object is, obviously, completely subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and all that. Nevertheless, the design is something to think about, and I suspect that for some folks, it will be a reason that they have no interest in an Ultra 2. For me, I think that the tradeoffs are worth it, especially for the extra battery life, but I still prefer the look of a slimmer stainless steel Apple Watch.
Siren
This is the only Apple Watch model that includes a Siren. To turn it on, you hold down the Action button for a few seconds. That brings up a menu from which you can select Siren, Medical ID, Compass Backtrfack, or Emergency SOS Call. Slide the word Siren to start it.
Alternatively, just hold down the Action button and keep holding it down. That will trigger a countdown display, with the Siren getting progressively louder as the display counts down until it goes on completely.
Either way, you end up with a continuous 86-decibel siren made up of two high-pitched sounds that alternate and repeat. Apple says that these are sounds “not generally heard in nature or the environment” and that they can be heard up to 600 feet away. The siren will continue until you turn it off or until the watch runs out of power.
If you are lost in the middle of the woods, the Siren feature can help people to find you. If you are in a dangerous situation in an urban environment, I suspect that the Siren could also be a good way to alert others that you need help.
I suspect that I will never need the Siren, but it is one of those things that it is nice to know that you have it in an emergency—just like satellite SOS and other helpful features enabled by Apple technology.
U2
Both the Series 9 and Ultra 2 included the U2 chip (Ultra Wideband). This means that your Apple Watch can do a better job of sensing other Apple products around it and a better job helping you find a lost iPhone.
For example, if I cannot find my iPhone 15 Pro Max, I can tap the Control Center button (side button) on an Ultra 2, tap the Ping iPhone tile, and then the watch will show me my approximate distance to my iPhone. As I walk around, the number increases or decreases. When I get closer, I get an indicator of which direction to go. And then when I get in the same room, my watch face changes to green as it counts down the feet and inches to my iPhone. This feature works quite well.
Bands bands bands
The Ultra 2 comes with a watch band, and there are three to choose from, all of which are unique to the Ultra line. The Ocean Band is made for water sports and recreational diving. The Alpine Loop is supposedly for outdoor adventure, but it has a large buckle that I don’t think I would like. I opted for the Trail Loop, which Apple says is for all kinds of workouts.
The Trail Loop is a nice, soft, band that uses a hook-and-loop style closure. It’s nice, but after a day or two, I went back to wearing the bands that I had been using with my Series 7: mostly my Milanese Loop or one of my Solo Loops. The good news is that if you move to an Ultra or Ultra 2 from any of the larger Apple Watch models, your bands will still work.
Speakers and mics
The Ultra 2 has speakers that Apple says are 40% louder than the Series 9 or SE and an improved microphone. Thus, if you are in extreme weather conditions, it should be far easier to have a phone conversation using just your watch.
I don’t use the speaker on my Apple Watch very much, but I did make a few phone calls with the Ultra 2 and it was fine. Perhaps it was better than my prior Apple Watch Series 7, but to be honest, I didn’t really notice any change.
Conclusion
My only real hesitation with the Ultra line is that the chunky design doesn’t appeal to me, at least not at first. Perhaps it is something that you get more used to over time.
If you are buying an Ultra 2 for extreme outdoor activities, then good for you. You’ll love this watch. It is made for you.
If you are considering the Ultra line just to get a better Apple Watch, then I think you will still be happy, mostly because of the improved battery life, which is phenomenal. The display is only slightly larger so you can only take advantage of it in a few situations, such as using the Modular Ultra watch face, but even a minor improvement is an improvement. Similarly, the Action button is a nice addition, although so far I don’t use it very often. Some of the other improvements in the Ultra, such as the faster processor and double tap, are also available with a Series 9.
One major reason that Apple devices like the iPhone are superior to competitors is the great user interface. When I say that, I suspect that you start thinking about how things look on the screen, but sounds are an important part of the user experience as well. Twenty Thousand Hertz is a podcast about the stories behind sounds that you know very well, and the latest episode is called The Sound of Apple. It is an absolute joy to listen to, and it provides the backstory of sounds that you know on the iPhone, Apple Watch, and other Apple devices. This works great in a podcast format where you pay attention to what you are hearing, not what you are seeing. The episode to which I linked is Part 1, and apparently, a Part 2 is coming out on August 14. I highly recommend that you listen to this one. And now, the news of note from the past week:
Apple released iOS 17.6.1 this week and similar updates for other platforms. If you haven’t upgraded yet, you should do so soon to be safe. As Chance Miller of 9to5Mac notes, this update includes bug fixes that Apple considers to be important.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball describes a big update to Flighty, my favorite travel app. The app can now both predict and explain flight delays, often giving you better information than the airline itself will tell you.
Miller also notes that California will soon support storing your state driver’s licenses in the Apple Wallet app, with Iowa and Tennessee also supporting this feature soon.
David Sparks of MacSparky talks about the new Apple Vision Pro environment available in the Disney+ app (there is also a new one in the Paramount app) and explains why it would be nice if Apple found a way that you can use these environments outside of those applications. I agree—that would be nice—and hopefully, Apple has this feature on its list of future enhancements.
If you have resisted buying a Nest thermostat for your home because it doesn’t support HomeKit, William Gallagher of Apple Insider reports that the new version of the Nest Learning Thermostat uses the Matter standard, which means that it also works with HomeKit.
When Apple first announced its upcoming movie called Wolfs starring both George Clooney and Brad Pitt, I assumed that it would first have a long theatrical run before it came to Apple TV+. But Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that the film will only get a limited, one-week theatrical release on September 20 and then it will come to Apple TV+ on Friday, September 27. Given the two big stars in this movie and the fact that Apple is already working on a sequel, that surprised me.
Matt Novak of Gizmodo submitted a FOIA request to NASA to find out which TV shows are available to watch on the International Space Station. He got a response, and it is an interesting list. It includes three Apple TV+ shows: For All Mankind, Severance, and Ted Lasso. Watching For All Mankind while you are in space sounds like a great way to enjoy the show.
Zac Hall of 9to5Mac shares the story of a man in California who says that his Apple Watch saved his life by alerting him that his heart rate was very low. The doctors told him that he needed a pacemaker immediately.
And finally, I’ve been enjoying a new show on Apple TV+ called Time Bandits. It is over-the-top silly, but it makes me laugh and has lots of great actors in it. If you are trying to decide if the humor of the show works for you, here is a two-minute clip from the first episode that introduces some of the characters. I consider it to be pretty spoiler-free, so you can watch this clip to you decide whether to start watching the series.
