The Apple Watch Ultra Is Appleis the largest and most powerful wearable, as well as one of our top picks for best smart watch you can buy immediately. So when can we expect the Apple Watch Ultra 2 to launch and how will it improve on the original?
Rumored by Bloomberg’s Mark GurmanApple will be launching 18 new products over the next twelve months and of course new Apple Watches are also on the agenda. Two models of the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
That’s good news considering we heard earlier this year that the Apple Watch Ultra 2 might not launch until 2024 or even 2025. While we don’t yet have official details on what the Apple Watch Ultra 2 will look like, the same is rumored to have an even larger 2.1-inch screen than the current Apple Watch Ultra.
It can turn that off too OLED Instead, the screen of the original is switched to microLED technology. However, industry insiders believe the development will come later with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 or the Apple Watch Ultra 4.
Details on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 might be sparse, but in the guide below we’ve rounded up all the top rumors, as well as some of our best predictions on what to expect from Apple’s next high-end wearable.
Let’s get down to business
- What is it? The next high-end Apple Watch
- When does it appear? Possibly September 2023
- How much will it cost? Probably at least $799 / £849 / AU$1,229
Apple Watch Ultra 2 release date
We may see the Apple Watch Ultra 2 in Septembernext to the apple watch 9. After all, the original Apple Watch Ultra launched in September 2022, making September 2023 an obvious launch date for the Apple Watch Ultra 2, especially since standard Apple Watch models have been launching in September every year since the Apple Watch 2 .
More specifically, based on previous Apple Watch releases, it could well be announced in the first half of September. However, this is not a standard Apple Watch, but rather the beginning of a new line of products. So we can’t be sure that Apple will treat them the same way.
We had reason to believe we might not see an Apple Watch Ultra 2 until 2024 or even 2025. But now it looks like we’ll see the Ultra 2 in September – even if it doesn’t have the new technologies and developments that may not arrive until later iterations.
Rumored by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman Of all the Apple devices expected over the next year, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 will launch in September.
However, this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet and we wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t happen. After all, the Apple Watch SE line is not annual, with that Apple Watch SE 2 Landing two years after the original model, so Apple could very well do something similar with the Apple Watch Ultra.
Based on the first Ultra, these are big, flashy watches with huge prices, so Apple might have to come up with some notable upgrades to justify their existence, again suggesting there might be more than a year between them.
So, despite these new rumours, you could actually be waiting for the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for quite a long time.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 price
There’s no news yet on what the Apple Watch Ultra 2 might cost, but as a comparison, the original Apple Watch Ultra costs $799 / £849 / AU$1,229, so it’s likely the next model will cost at least that much .
However, if anything, the price could go up, especially if we don’t see it for a few years. A report from View supply chain consultants (above forbes) suggests exactly that and names new display technology as the cause.
Nevertheless, there is only one configuration, at least for the current model. So if that’s true of the Apple Watch Ultra 2, you don’t always have to pay higher prices to get more storage or anything like that.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 news and leaks
If you thought the Apple Watch Ultra was big with its 1.92-inch screen, then you haven’t seen anything because according to a leak, a future Apple Watch Ultra could have an even larger display.
Coming from DigiTimeswhich claims (via BGR) that in 2024 Apple will release a version of the Apple Watch Ultra with a 2.1-inch screen. It will also apparently use Micro-LED display technology instead of OLED.
This last change would potentially make the screen brighter, display more vibrant colors and be easier to read from an angle than the current OLED display. according to a January 2023 report from Mark Gurman – a reputable leaker – making the same micro-LED claim, it would also make the display look almost like it was painted onto the glass; A phrase we’ve heard in connection with previous Apple products, when the company offered its first iPad with a fully laminated display, the iPad Air 2, in 2014.
As for magnification, a move from 1.92 inches to 2.1 inches might not sound dramatic, but for reference: apple watch 8 only has a 1.69-inch screen, and we found in our Apple Watch Ultra review that moving from an older, smaller model can feel gargantuan. So a further increase in size is certainly remarkable.
Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as we found the Ultra’s display to be a highlight overall, as it’s easy to use and read given its size.
Whether this will happen is quite likely. As mentioned above, the micro-LED bit has also been rumored elsewhere, namely with analyst Jeff Pu (via MacRumors) recently made the exact same claim as DigiTimes; both in terms of size and technical changes.
While everyone else was reporting that the MicroLED Apple Watch would launch in 2024, we’ve been adamant that it would be 2025, which has now been essentially confirmed by its MicroLED supplier Osram: pic.twitter.com /gI9T6xcKfUFebruary 7, 2023
However, we could be waiting even longer than 2024 for a micro-LED Apple Watch Ultra, as Ross Young of the aforementioned DSCC (which has a good track record) has claimed in a tweet that it won’t happen until 2025; citing a report from the expected micro-LED vendor, which cites 2025 as when it will start earning serious revenue from the technology.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll wait until 2025 or even 2024 for an Apple Watch Ultra 2, it could rather mean that it will be the Apple Watch Ultra 3 or 4 that will have these upgrades.
Another upgrade we may see in a future Apple Watch Ultra model is the addition of a camera. Apple has received various patents for Apple Watches with cameras over the years, most recently one for this one The camera is located on the bottom of the deviceand paired with a strap that allows you to easily detach the watch case from the strap when you want to take a picture.
However, many patents are never used for commercial devices, so we wouldn’t expect that to happen, and if it does, there’s no real indication that this system will be ready in time for the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
Finally, it is said that the mechanical titanium parts of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 are manufactured using a 3D printing processwhich should save Apple some money – but whether those savings will be passed on to the consumer remains to be seen.
