First impressions of the new Apple Watches

The Apple event held every fall generates lots of buzz and media attention, with tech fans eagerly anticipating what the company will bring us in its latest iPhone. Until last year, casing out the event probably wasn’t high on the to-do lists for most cyclists, triathletes or runners. Sure, they were probably interested in the new iPhone, but in terms of a watch, most serious endurance athletes weren’t much interested in the Apple Watch. That all changed in 2022, though, with the launch of the Apple Watch Ultra. Suddenly serious triathletes could enjoy all the seamless integration between their watch, their iPhone and other Apple gear.

Ultra 2 – welcome to double tap

I’m not sure the folks at Apple see things this way, but for me the arrival of the Ultra 2 has set up a new dynamic within the Apple universe. Apple Watch now gets its own high-end version of the iPhone, just like the “Pro,” and we can now look forward to updated specs on the watch every year. The arrival of the Ultra last year signalled Apple was ready to get serious about endurance and adventure sports. The Ultra 2 signals they’re really serious.

Like the Ultra, the Ultra 2 features a 49mm titanium case. It’s big, but manages to feel very light on your wrist. The customizable action button remains, as does the Digital Crown, which is protected by a titanium guard. The side button is slightly raised. Everything is easy to access, even if you’re wearing gloves.

While the Ultra 2 doesn’t look any different to the Ultra on the outside, inside there’s been some dramatic changes. It starts with a new S9 System in Package (SiP) – basically a new chip – that boosts performance by 30 per cent. That means the Ultra 2 can do some stuff that the Ultra can’t – Siri requests can now be processed on the device, dictation is 25 per cent more accurate and you can access health data directly on the watch. While those are great additions, the truly groundbreaking aspect of the new chip is still to come. The new “double tap” feature is really amazing. It’s not going to be available until October, but I did have a chance to play with it a bit at the Apple event last week and it really is an awesome feature. You can answer a call, pause a podcast, start and stop a workout, open up the new Smart Stack (part of the new OS10) and much more by simply tapping your thumb and index finger together. Our review watch didn’t have that access (we’ll have to wait until…