Apple Watch Ultra 4
Apple (video, MacRumors, Hacker News):
Engineered with the new Health Sensing System and S11 chip, Apple Watch Ultra 4 delivers the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable, higher-frequency heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements, and a new readiness score to support athletes of all kinds. Apple Watch Ultra 4 also offers extended battery life to track outdoor workouts for up to 45 hours and the most accurate on-device GPS in a sports watch.
[…]
For everyday use, Apple Watch Ultra 4 now offers more than two days of battery life, up to 50 hours. In Low Power Mode, it offers up to 84 hours of battery life. Charging is now faster than ever: Just 15 minutes adds up to 18 hours of additional battery life.
[…]
The pedometer model has been completely redesigned with new machine learning algorithms and the S11 chip to provide more accurate distance measurements during indoor walk or run workouts, and more accurate step counts all day.
[…]
Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799.
The Ultra 2 was sold to me as the watch that can do Siri without network connectivity. That was very useful to me to leave reminders for stuff I think about while on a run without the phone.
3 years later, Apple releases the OS 27 versions and Siri got improved to the point where it can’t work on-device any more on said Ultra 2
So to get the feature back which I paid for and which was specifically used to sell me the device and which now has been taken away from me, I just have to… buy the next hardware generation?
And how long will that last before they decide to remove the feature again?
Does it still work offline in the EU?
Previously:
- Audio Intelligence
- Health Sensing and Readyness
- Apple Watch Series 12
- No Siri AI in EU
- Siri AI Announced
- Dictating Literal Reminders to My Apple Watch
- Apple Watch SE 3
- Apple Watch Ultra 3
- EU iOS Envy
- Apple Watch Ultra 2
- The Disappointment of On-Device Siri
Update (2026-09-24): Adam Chandler:
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 lasted 84 hours with the screen off before I hit 15% battery life remaining. I recharged it in 90 minutes using one of my chargers (not sure if that was fast charging). That’s 3.5 days on a charge…probably could have gotten the full 4 days.
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“ The pedometer model has been completely redesigned with new machine learning algorithms and the S11 chip to provide more accurate distance measurements during indoor walk or run workouts, and more accurate step counts all day.”
Considering how inaccurate it has been for years on iOS, I don’t have a lot of hopes there.
You can still turn off Siri "A""I" in the settings, and keep the "old" Siri. That then applies to the watch as well. Siri "A""I" is terrible on the watch. "Set a timer for 5 minutes" sometimes takes as much as 30 seconds of "thinking". What a retarded company.
I have hated the watch beta so much, as nobody at Apple must ever exist with what I assume is the most common one sold (no cellular) or use in an environment away from the phone (like… a gym or out on a jog) because the new Siri is next to useless for basics like “start an outdoor run”
As it also proceeds to ask what app, as if I want anything but the default workout app I’ve used for like 8 years now
I have the watchOS 27 RC running on my Series 10 Apple Watch (I’m in the EU). Siri can set timers, create reminders, etc., while offline.
I've always assumed that the effective useful life of a "smart watch" was a couple years. Between the constant CPU/RAM/screen improvements, the OS updates, the rechargeable battery, the software service integration points, and the non-stop style changes in tech, there's just no way I could see it being a practical watch for much longer than that.
As Alan Cooper pointed out 30 years ago, when you combine anything with a computer, the result is a computer, with all that entails. You bought a wrist computer. It's going to get software updates, and (unless it's open source) there's nothing you can do about it.
If you wanted a watch that lasts forever, you should have bought a G-shock. Nobody is surprised when their Mac Mini gets a software update and most things get better but some things get worse.
