First Impressions of Apple Watch Series 10: Almost Ultra

In 10 years since its inception, the Apple Watch has become a phenomenon. It was the first new product category that Apple entered under the reigns of Tim Cook, in the post Steve Jobs era — and it over the years, it has become the world’s best selling wristwatch leave alone smartwatch. So 10 years on its evolution has been subtle, iterative but in terms of impact it has radically changed the personal wellness and fashion landscape. And with the Series 10, Apple has almost made it worthy of the Ultra moniker. The update in a way is similar to the one the iPad Air got a couple of years ago as it incorporated so many elements of the iPad Pro which basically ensure people didn’t need to get an iPad Pro. In the case of the Apple Watch Series 10, this could be a bigger cannibalizer of the Ultra. 

Apple has expertly slimmed and thinned down the Apple Watch by a millimeter and extended the displays to the extreme edges of the chassis. This means it is 9 per cent larger than the one on the Series 9 while being slimmer and retaining the same battery performance. But what’s brilliant is the screen itself as it is 40 per cent brighter which is quite visible to even the untrained eye. This is because Apple is using a wide angle OLED screen, a first for an Apple product which makes it gorgeous to view at. It gets a new flux watch face to match the beautiful screen which comes alive with the visual detail Apple’s widgets provide. 

But there is more. Apple has replaced the premium stainless steel model with a brand new grade 5 titanium chassis which makes things lighter as well — and to match there are bracelets and Milanese loops made out of titanium which look stunning. There is a new jet black colour as well which kind of reminded me of the jet black Apple had for the iPhone 7 models which went out of fashion after it adopted wireless charging on the iPhones. It is lovely to say the least. This a feature borrowed from the Apple Watch Ultra which is made out of titanium. 
 

The innards are too updated with the new S10 SIP which enables on device machine learning for some of that AI magic. It also gets charged faster, which is a life saver as currently, the Apple Watch does take its sweet time. 

The headlining wellness feature is a sleep apnea monitor that is pending FDA approval but Apple isn’t just hopeful of getting it, but there are plans to launch the feature in over 150 countries which also includes India. It takes into account metrics from the heart rate monitor, respiratory rate, wrist temperature. It also uses the accelerometer for the same to monitor small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions in normal respiratory patterns. This has been integrated into the health app where there are classified as elevated or not elevated and can be viewed over a month or six month cycle or even a year. There is a sleep apnea notification algorithm that Apple has developed. 

In addition to this another feature from the Ultra series of Apple Watch has been borrowed — Depth and water temperature sensors as this has a 50 meter water resistance rating, automatic stroke detection for snorkeling and swimming and lap counting. The depth gauge a can measure up to 6 meters beneath the water’s surface perfect for snorkeling or shallow diving. The new temperature sensor measures the temperature of the water when it is submerged. These metrics are also shown in the pool swim and open water swim workouts. 

There is a new tides app enabling users to access seven rolling days of forecasted tidal information for coastlines and surf spots around the globe. Users can also view beaches near their location and view current tide information at a glance. 
 

The Oceanic + app which was a valuable for the Apple Watch Ultra is also there now developed in partnership with Huish Outdoors for snorkeling. 

The new chassis also features a brand new audio experience as now users can play music or podcasts from the loudspeaker on the watch itself. It has new voice isolation technology that uses a neural network on the 4-core neural engine that is running on the S10 SIP. 

There is also a new updated Ultra 2 model which gets a brushed black titanium finish — and new watch bands developed in partnership with Hermes. Overall, this is basically an ultra which lacks the extra bulk and extra bells and whistles for folks who indulge in uber extreme water sports, while having cursory features for those who plan to take baby steps in this realm. 

I am pretty sure it will lure many Apple Watch Ultra users too who find it to be too bulky.