Apple Watch Ultra 3: The Ultimate Adventure Companion Goes Beyond the Grid

Apple has just unveiled the Apple Watch Ultra 3, and it's nothing short of revolutionary. This isn't just another smartwatch iteration – it's a quantum leap that transforms the Apple Watch Ultra into the ultimate guardian for adventurers, athletes, and anyone who dares to push boundaries. Starting at $799, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 introduces game-changing features that will redefine what we expect from wearable technology.

Pre-Order Today, Adventure Awaits September 19

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is available for pre-order today, with general availability beginning Friday, September 19. At $799, it represents the pinnacle of Apple's smartwatch technology, packed with features that were previously unimaginable in a device this size.

Breaking New Ground: Emergency SOS via Satellite

The headline feature of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is its groundbreaking satellite communication capability. For the first time in any Apple Watch, users can stay connected even when they're completely off the grid – whether backcountry skiing, trail running, or camping in remote wilderness areas.

Emergency SOS via satellite allows users to text emergency services and notify emergency contacts with just a few simple taps, even without cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. If the watch detects a severe car crash or hard fall while the user is unresponsive and off the grid, it can automatically send situation and location information to emergency services when in line of sight of a satellite.

But the satellite features go beyond emergencies. Find My via satellite lets users send their location every 15 minutes to contacts previously added to Find My. Messages via satellite enables users to send and receive texts, emoji, and Tapbacks to friends and family while keeping messages end-to-end encrypted. Users can even send SMS messages via satellite to anyone they've been in contact with over the last 30 days.

The engineering achievement here is staggering. Apple reengineered the device's radio to cover more frequencies and redesigned the antenna to double signal strength, enabling communication with satellites as far as 800 miles above Earth traveling at 15,000 mph. All satellite communication features are included free for two years with Apple Watch Ultra 3.

The Largest Display Ever in an Apple Watch

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 features the largest screen of any Apple Watch ever, incorporating Apple's most advanced display technology with LTPO3 and wide-angle OLEDs. The LTPO3 technology enables display borders to be 24 percent thinner, increasing the active screen area without changing the case size, while making the display brighter when viewed from an angle.

Perhaps most impressive is the display's efficiency breakthrough. LTPO3 enables the Always-On display to refresh once per second instead of once per minute, meaning users can see a ticking seconds hand without raising their wrist. The Stopwatch, Timer, and over 20 watch faces have been updated to support this faster refresh rate.

Unprecedented 42-Hour Battery Life

Despite powering the largest display, satellite communications, and 5G connectivity, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 delivers up to 42 hours of battery life for daily use – a remarkable achievement in power management. In Low Power Mode, it extends to an incredible 72 hours.

For outdoor enthusiasts, the watch provides 20 hours of continuous outdoor workout tracking in Low Power Mode with full GPS and heart rate readings. Fast charging delivers up to 12 hours of battery life with just 15 minutes of charging, ensuring you're never left without power when adventure calls.

Revolutionary Health Insights: Hypertension Detection

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 introduces hypertension notifications, a groundbreaking health feature that can detect signs of chronic high blood pressure. Hypertension affects approximately 1.3 billion adults globally and is frequently undiagnosed because it often has no symptoms.

Using data from the optical heart sensor, the watch analyzes how blood vessels respond to heartbeats. The algorithm works passively in the background over 30-day periods and will notify users if it detects consistent signs of hypertension. This feature was developed using advanced machine learning and training data from multiple studies totaling over 100,000 participants, then validated in a clinical study of over 2,000 participants.

Apple estimates that this feature could notify over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension within the first year – potentially saving countless lives by enabling early intervention.

Comprehensive Sleep Intelligence with Sleep Score

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 also introduces sleep score, helping users understand sleep quality through scientific analysis. The feature evaluates multiple factors including duration, bedtime consistency, wake-up frequency, and time spent in each sleep stage.

After each night, users receive an overall score and classification in the Sleep app, plus a clear breakdown of the most critical components to prioritize for improvement. The scoring algorithm is informed by guidance from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, National Sleep Foundation, and World Sleep Society, using over 5 million nights of sleep data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study.

Next-Generation Connectivity: 5G and Enhanced Reception

For the first time, Apple Watch Ultra features 5G cellular capabilities, providing better performance with greater throughput so music, podcasts, and apps download faster. The 5G modem is more power-efficient, using less battery for cellular connectivity.

To boost reception in challenging environments, Apple Watch Ultra 3 uses an advanced algorithm that simultaneously engages both system antennas when needed, significantly increasing signal strength – crucial for adventurers in remote locations.

AI-Powered Fitness Evolution with Workout Buddy

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 features Workout Buddy, a first-of-its-kind fitness experience powered by Apple Intelligence. This revolutionary feature analyzes workout data and fitness history to deliver personalized, spoken motivation throughout exercise sessions based on real-time data like heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, and personal fitness milestones.

The Ultimate Sports Watch for Every Adventure

Apple Watch Ultra 3 continues to excel as the ultimate sports companion:

For Runners: The most accurate GPS in a sports watch, customizable Action button, advanced metrics including vertical oscillation and ground contact time, Race Route, Pacer, automatic track-running detection, and training load analysis.

For Cyclists: Live Activity on iPhone showing workout metrics, Bluetooth power meter connectivity, cadence tracking, functional threshold power estimation, and Power Zones.

For Swimmers: Automatic stroke detection, lap counting, SWOLF scoring, water temperature readings, and WR100 certification.

For Hikers: Offline maps with turn-by-turn directions, Waypoints, and Backtrack GPS data in the Compass app.

For Divers: Support for the Oceanic+ app, turning the watch into a recreational scuba diving computer for depths up to 40 meters.

Premium Design and Environmental Responsibility

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is available in natural or black titanium with a new collection of bands, including a Trail Loop design with reflective yarn and new colors for Ocean Band and Alpine Loop. The Hermès collection introduces two new En Mer colors and a new Scub'H Diving band in rubber with titanium buckle.

True to Apple's environmental commitment, the watch is made with 40 percent recycled content, including 100 percent recycled cobalt in the battery and 100 percent recycled titanium in the case. The case uses an innovative 3D printing process requiring just half the raw material of previous generations.

watchOS 26: A New Era of Intelligence

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 launches with watchOS 26, featuring:

• Liquid Glass design for vibrant, expressive experiences
• Smart Stack hints with proactive, contextual suggestions
• Live Translation in Messages with Apple Intelligence
• New watch faces including Waypoint for navigation assistance
• Wrist flick gesture for easy notification dismissal

The Bottom Line: Adventure Redefined

At $799, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 isn't just an upgrade – it's a complete reimagining of what a smartwatch can be. You're getting:

• Satellite communication for true off-grid connectivity
• The largest Apple Watch display ever with 1Hz Always-On refresh
• 42-hour battery life (72 hours in Low Power Mode)
• Groundbreaking health insights including hypertension detection
• 5G connectivity with enhanced reception algorithms
• AI-powered fitness coaching with Workout Buddy
• Premium titanium construction with environmental responsibility

"Apple Watch Ultra is our most advanced Apple Watch, designed to take users from sports and adventure to the rest of their life, and help them stay active, healthy, connected, and safe, wherever they are," said Eugene Kim, Apple's vice president of Apple Watch Hardware Engineering.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 represents a new category of wearable technology – one that doesn't just track your adventures but actively protects and guides you through them. Whether you're a weekend warrior, professional athlete, or someone who simply refuses to be limited by connectivity boundaries, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is ready to go anywhere life takes you.

Available for pre-order today with availability beginning Friday, September 19, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 isn't just the future of smartwatches – it's the future of human potential unleashed.