I'm hoping that means the Ultra 3 will be more interesting later on, in some way. Maybe a 51mm circular option to compete with Garmin on form factor? Maybe a bigger battery? It's disappointing they broke the lockstep release of the Apple Watch this year, though.
I have an Ultra 1 and the battery life is a lot worse than the Ultra 2, but there's no new watch for me this year, so now I'm stuck.
I don't really, really need the extra battery life. I treated myself to a Ultra 1 when they came out and now I'd never go back to having to charge my watch daily. Among other things, now I never wonder if it's charged enough before bed to track my sleep. It is. It always is.
I had assumed that it also had a significantly larger display, which would have been compelling for me since I'm getting old enough to where things I could read without my glasses a few years ago on my Series 4 are now too small. Based on 49mm vs 44mm and assuming display area goes as the square of watch size the Ultra 2 should have a display 24% larger than that of my Series 4.
But two things can invalidate that square of the size assumption. First, the aspect ratio of the cases is not the same, and second, the percent of the case area occupied by the screen is not necessarily the same.
On the watch comparison page Apple gives the actual display area and it that tells an interesting story:
(The SE 2 has the same case and display specs as the Series 4).
The "Δ Display" column is how much bigger the display area is than that of the watch from the prior row. The "Δ Size^2" is how much bigger we'd expect the display to be just based on the square of watch size.
Based on this it appears that if I want the largest display then the Series 10 is the way to go.
I don't "really really" need the extra better life but I just bought a Ultra 2 on Amazon today because they were on sale and the 10 doesn't improve battery life at all.
I've been doing hikes that last 6-8 hours (I have little kids so we go slow, takes breaks etc) and pretty much every time my Series 8 either runs out our I have to really carefully conserve battery. I'm hoping the Ultra 2 will mean I can just record my hike and not worry about it.
Some concrete reasons I have for wanting that extra battery life: camping, hiking, and road tripping.
I can keep up with charging when I have a predictable schedule. When I don’t, I’m always running out of battery and often in the worst moments, i.e. when I’m just starting a hike.
It’s my experience charging it in the car and while camping with portable batteries that makes me want more battery.
Can charge in the car, sure. Will I actually charge it in the car? From experience, it’s a constant struggle because I’m outside of my normal routine and I’m not usually seeing the low battery warnings while I’m in driving mode. I often realize when it’s too late, and then my watch is dead til I’m back on the road for a major segment.
And I just prefer to have fewer things to worry about each day so I can focus on why I’m traveling in the first place.
Is it really good to treat things as disposable just because price incentives happen to make doing so cost efficient?
If the GP has a lifestyle that's hard on their watch, good on them for selecting the durable product that can survive it instead of churning needless extraction, labor, shipping, time, and e-waste.
I don’t think it’s bad to treat things as disposable.
I think it’s easy to scoff at (and look down on) someone who does treat things as disposable.
But the reality is that we all (in the developed world) treat everything as if it’s disposable. But we just like to think that we’re mindful or whatever because it makes us feel good.
AppleCare+, since 2019, has been renewable (presumably until Apple declares the product obsolete) for most products except the AirPods (in my experience) in the following countries [1]:
Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States
AppleCare now has monthly until you cancel plans - not just for watch but for phone and even the monitor. (I'm not sure of the macs). It's a bit confusing when you order and I'm not sure if it's because Apple is trying to discourage this; I just decline during order and then add it separately and this option always shows up for me.
You can buy AppleCare+ monthly indefinitely (until they EOL the device) at a monthly rate. You can even renew it after the 2 year length into a monthly plan.
I got the Watch 10 with cellular, so that I could cycle without taking my phone along for emergencies. Turns out the battery life of the 10 with cellular is horrible (even more so if you use cellular for music streaming). So I upgraded to the Ultra 2 purely for the battery (though I have started liking its look as well).
The 10 got the diving stuff this year, though perhaps not as good as the ultra.
I think the big story on the ultra is just going to stay battery life + better GOS (for now?). Want to do a 12 hour trail ride? It can keep exercise mode without fully draining your battery.
Unfortunately the reports from other divers say that the Ultra is not a very reliable diving computer with OS crashing and rebooting at times. Something that's unthinkable on a Shearwater, Garmin or even a Suunto.
