Apple has taken the wraps off Apple Watch Ultra 4, and it’s a big leap that we’ve been waiting for.
There’s a new health sensing system, genuinely useful AI features baked into the microphone, and battery life long enough to make plenty of dedicated GPS watches *cough* Garmin *cough* nervous.
I’ve gone through Apple’s announcement and pulled out the ten things that you need to know about, whether you’re due an upgrade or just Apple Ultra-curious.
1. It has the most accurate heart rate sensing Apple’s ever made
Apple Watch Ultra 4 is built around a new ‘Health Sensing System’, paired with the S11 chip and new optical and electrical heart sensors. Apple says it’s now the most accurate heart rate sensing in any wearable, a claim it’s backing with a study of more than 1000 participants pitted against rival devices.
We can’t wait to test this out against Oura Ring 5, Ultrahuman, Garmin and more.
The bigger deal is what that hardware enables day to day – heart rate is now measured every five seconds, all day, not just during workouts.
2. HRV tracking has gone from occasional to near-constant
Heart rate variability, one of the clearest signals of stress and recovery, is now measured up to 24 times more often than before.
Apple’s splitting it into two separate readings, too: Recovery HRV for short-term stress and recovery, and overall HRV for the bigger cardiovascular picture.
There’s also a new daytime vitals view, so you’re no longer limited to checking how you’re doing only after you wake up.
3. Readiness is the new daily score to watch
This is the headline software feature. Readiness crunches your recent activity, training load, vitals and sleep score into a single 0-10 rating each day, alongside one of four plain-English verdicts: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It.
We’re so happy Apple is finally doing this, as so many rivals already do such a great job here.
It updates through the day as new data comes in, so a punishing workout or a rough night’s sleep will shift the number in real time rather than waiting for the next morning’s summary.
4. Battery life has had a proper jump
Everyday battery life is now up to 50 hours, or 84 hours in Low Power Mode. Charging is quicker, too, with 15 minutes on the puck getting you up to 18 hours back.
For workouts specifically, the new Extended Workout mode offers up to 25 hours with full GPS and heart rate tracking, a 25-percent increase over the previous Ultra.
Push into Max Extended Workout mode and you’re looking at up to 45 hours, which Apple reckons is enough to see you through a 100-mile race while still logging GPS every second.
5. Step and distance tracking has been rebuilt from scratch
The pedometer model is entirely new, using fresh machine learning algorithms and the S11 chip to sharpen distance measurements on indoor walks and runs, plus more accurate all-day step counts.
Apple’s calling it the most accurate step tracking on any smartwatch. There’s also a new Steps complication for keeping an eye on your count without diving into the Fitness app.
6. Audio Intelligence is Apple Watch’s most ambitious AI feature yet
The S11 chip and Apple Intelligence unlock a genuinely new category of features built around the watch’s microphone:
- Sound Recognition alerts deaf and hard-of-hearing users to sounds like sirens, alarms or a crying baby, even without an iPhone nearby.
- Live Rewind lets you double-press the Digital Crown to see the last 15 seconds of a conversation as text, handy for catching something you missed.
- Siri Recap generates a title and key points from a conversation after the fact, saved to the new Siri app.
- Shazam identifies music playing around you and surfaces it straight to the Smart Stack.
Apple’s highlights privacy here – audio is processed in a hardware-isolated Secure Exclave on the S11 chip and deleted immediately, nothing is recorded or transcribed, and speakers aren’t identified.
Siri Recap and Live Rewind arrive as a beta later this year.
7. Siri AI finally lands on the wrist
With watchOS 27, Apple Watch Ultra 4 gets Siri AI, Apple’s Apple Intelligence-powered overhaul of its assistant, complete with personal context understanding and broader world knowledge.
A new Siri Modular watch face is designed to make it faster to reach.
It’s rolling out as a beta in English from 14 September, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish following in October.
8. The Health app is getting a proper rethink
Later this year, the Health app on iPhone is being redesigned around Apple Intelligence, with a new Insights tab surfacing timely updates and a new Longevity tab built around Health Age, showing how your metrics stack up against your actual age.
There are also new movement evaluations using vision-based AI to assess flexibility, strength and balance, plus the option to book lab tests covering more than 50 biomarkers for $119 through roughly 2000 Quest Diagnostics locations in the US.
9. watchOS 27 brings a handful of quality-of-life wins too
Beyond the headline features, there’s a new single-handed tap gesture for navigating the Smart Stack, a dynamic app grid of Siri-suggested apps, smarter Smart Stack widget suggestions, perimenopause and menopause support in Cycle Tracking, and Workout Buddy now working without an iPhone nearby, plus a new Spanish voice option.
10. Pricing, availability and what’s new on the band front
Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799 / £799 and comes in natural or black titanium. It’s available to pre-order now, with stores getting stock from Friday, 18 September.
watchOS 27 itself lands on Monday, 14 September, for Apple Watch Series 9 or later, Apple Watch SE 3, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later.
There’s also a refreshed band lineup, with new colourways for Trail Loop, Alpine Loop and Ocean Band, and an Apple Watch Hermès Ultra 4 with a new Grand H titanium band designed to fit over a wetsuit.
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