Apple Watch Ultra 4 costs $799, the same price Apple charged for the original Apple Watch Ultra in September 2022, and it replaces that watch’s S8 chip, 36-hour battery and 2000-nit display with an S11, up to 50 hours and 3000 nits. The bigger change for first-generation owners is software: Apple’s watchOS 27 compatibility list stops at Ultra 2, so the 2022 Ultra stays on watchOS 26.
That gives first-generation owners a deadline. Everything below comes from Apple’s tech specs, compare page and press releases.
Key facts: Ultra 4 vs the 2022 Ultra
| Item | Apple Watch Ultra 4 (2026) | Apple Watch Ultra (2022) |
|---|---|---|
| Price at launch | From $799 | $799 |
| Chip | S11, dual-core, 4-core Neural Engine | S8 SiP, dual-core, with W3 and U1 |
| Battery, normal use | Up to 50 hours | Up to 36 hours (up to 18 hours on LTE) |
| Low Power Mode | Up to 84 hours | Up to 72 hours |
| Peak brightness | 3000 nits | Up to 2000 nits |
| Satellite | Emergency SOS, Messages and Find My via satellite | None |
| watchOS 27 | Ships with it | Not supported; last release is watchOS 26 |
The original Ultra stops at watchOS 26
Apple’s watchOS page lists the watches that run watchOS 27: SE 3, Series 9 through 12, and Ultra 2, 3 and 4. The first-generation Ultra is absent, along with Series 7, Series 8 and the second-generation SE.
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The 2022 Ultra’s last major release is watchOS 26. watchOS 27 arrives free on Monday, September 14 with Siri AI in beta, the dynamic app grid and the Siri Modular face, none of which reach the original Ultra. Our watchOS 27 release date and compatibility guide has the full feature list.
Chip, display and sensors: what four years changed
The original Ultra ran the S8 SiP, a 64-bit dual-core chip paired with the W3 wireless chip and U1 Ultra Wideband chip, per Apple’s tech specs. Ultra 4 uses the S11 with a dual-core processor, a 4-core Neural Engine, 64GB of storage, second-generation Ultra Wideband and a Secure Exclave for on-device audio processing.
Both are 49 mm titanium cases. Ultra 4 weighs 63.0 g in natural or 63.1 g in black and uses 100 percent recycled titanium; the original came in natural only. The display moves from up to 2000 nits to 3000 nits with a 1-nit minimum, LTPO3 wide-angle OLED and a 1 Hz always-on refresh rate.
On sensors the two overlap. Apple’s 2022 spec sheet already listed ECG, Blood Oxygen, a temperature sensor, a depth gauge for recreational dives to 40 m and a water temperature sensor, with 100 m water resistance and IP6X. Ultra 4 keeps all of those, adds a third-generation electrical heart sensor and the new Health Sensing System, and is tested to MIL-STD 810H.
| Spec | Ultra 4 | Original Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Case | 49 mm, natural or black titanium, 63.0 g / 63.1 g | 49 mm, natural titanium |
| Display | 3000 nits, 1 nit minimum, LTPO3, 1 Hz | Up to 2000 nits |
| Storage | 64GB | Apple has not restated |
| Water and dust | 100 m, dive to 40 m, IP6X, MIL-STD 810H | 100 m, dive to 40 m, IP6X |
| Cellular | 5G | LTE |
| Charging | 80 percent in about 45 minutes; 15 minutes gives 18 hours | 0 to 80 percent in 45 minutes (Apple’s compare page) |
Battery and workout modes
Apple rated the original Ultra at up to 36 hours of normal use, 18 hours on LTE, and 72 hours in Low Power Mode per the compare page. Ultra 4 is rated at up to 50 hours normal and 84 hours in Low Power Mode.
Ultra 4 also offers up to 18 hours of outdoor workout with full GPS and heart rate, 25 hours in Extended Workout mode, and 45 hours in the new Max Extended Workout mode with one-second GPS intervals, aimed at 100-mile races. A 15-minute charge gives 18 hours of use. Apple published no equivalent workout or quick-charge figures for the 2022 Ultra. See the Ultra 4 battery explainer for how each mode works.
Heart rate, satellite and the features the original never had
- Health Sensing System: heart rate every five seconds all day and HRV every five minutes, which Apple says is 60 times and 24 times more frequent than Ultra 3, plus a daily Readiness score from 0 to 10.
- Satellite: Emergency SOS, Messages and Find My via satellite, with two years of service included. Apple says the two-year window applies to Ultra 3 and later. The 2022 Ultra has no satellite hardware.
- 5G cellular and precision dual-frequency GPS, which Apple calls the most accurate on-device GPS in a sports watch. Details are in our Ultra 4 GPS and satellite guide.
- Audio Intelligence: Sound Recognition, Live Rewind, Siri Recap and Shazam detection, processed on the S11.
Ultra 4 also launches with new Trail Loop, Alpine Loop and Ocean Band colors, including a translucent kelp Ocean Band in a new silicone material. Apple has not published band prices.
What Apple has not said
- The weight of the original Ultra was not restated on Apple’s compare page, so it is left out of the table above.
- Apple has not published a trade-in value for the original Ultra. Its trade-in page asks condition questions before quoting a figure.
- Whether the 2022 Ultra will receive security updates on watchOS 26 after September 14, and for how long.
- Per-band Ultra 4 prices and Hermès Ultra 4 pricing.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 is available to pre-order now at $799, or $24.99 a month over 24 months on Apple Upgrade, and reaches stores on Friday, September 18 in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, India, Japan and more than 50 other countries. If you are weighing it against the newer Ultra 3 instead, read Apple Watch Ultra 4 vs Ultra 3 or the Ultra 4 announcement summary.
