Apple Watch Ultra 4 is rated for up to 50 hours of battery life in normal use, up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode, up to 25 hours in Extended Workout mode and up to 45 hours in a new Max Extended Workout mode. Those are Apple’s own figures from today’s press release for the $799 watch that reaches stores on Friday, September 18.
Last year’s Apple Watch Ultra 3 was rated for up to 42 hours, or 72 hours in Low Power Mode. At the same price, Ultra 4 adds 8 hours to the everyday figure and 12 hours to Low Power Mode, and Apple now describes the watch as lasting more than two days.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 battery life vs Ultra 3
| Mode | Apple Watch Ultra 4 | Apple Watch Ultra 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Normal use | Up to 50 hours | Up to 42 hours |
| Low Power Mode | Up to 84 hours | Up to 72 hours |
| Extended Workout | Up to 25 hours | Apple says Ultra 4 is 25 percent higher |
| Max Extended Workout | Up to 45 hours | Not offered |
| 15-minute charge | 18 hours of use | Not published by Apple |
What the four battery modes mean
The 50-hour figure is Apple’s all-day rating, the one to compare with the 24 hours Apple quotes for Apple Watch Series 12. Apple has not published the usage mix behind that number.
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Low Power Mode stretches that to 84 hours, or three and a half days. Apple has not said which features are limited in that mode on Ultra 4.
Extended Workout mode, the setting for long tracked sessions, now runs for up to 25 hours, which Apple says is 25 percent more than before.
Max Extended Workout mode is new. Apple says it lasts up to 45 hours while keeping GPS sampling at one-second intervals, and it is aimed at 100-mile races. That is nearly double the standard Extended Workout figure.
Charging: 15 minutes for 18 hours
Apple says 15 minutes on the charger gives Ultra 4 18 hours of use. The same 15 minutes gives Series 12 12 hours, which Apple describes as 50 percent faster than before for that model.
Apple has not published a full-charge time for Ultra 4, and it has not said whether the charging gain comes from the S11 chip, the charger or the battery itself. Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Apple Watch Product Marketing, credited “the new Health Sensing System and S11 chip” for the longer battery life and faster charging in Apple’s release.
What Apple has not said about Ultra 4 battery life
- Battery capacity in milliampere-hours
- Separate figures for cellular use or satellite use
- Which sensors or display settings change in Max Extended Workout mode
- Whether the 25-hour and 45-hour workout modes come to Ultra 3 through software
Those details usually appear on Apple’s technical specifications page rather than in the press release, so check the Apple Store listing before you order. Ultra 4 is available to pre-order today and ships with watchOS 27, which arrives as a free update on Monday, September 14 alongside iOS 27. Our event recap has the rest of the day’s announcements.
