Rumors Suggest the Apple Watch Ultra 3 Might Not Be What You Hoped

Let’s face it: there were few reasons to buy the Apple Watch Ultra 2 if you bought the original Ultra the year before. The two were just too similar.

The second-generation version of Apple’s most premium and rugged smartwatch looked basically identical to its predecessor. It only had a few new features, like Precision Finding (which is actually pretty useful) and Double Tap gesture controls, none of which were exactly game changers.

Now Apple is expected to announce a third generation of its ultra-premium smartwatch next week — alongside the Series 10 and a  third-gen SE (which could be more affordable than ever) — and you might be wondering: how will it be it different?

If the rumors are true, you might be left a little disappointed.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

No fancy new display

One of the biggest rumors over the several years was that Apple was working on a microLED display for the Apple Watch. This display technology would drastically improve brightness, color and contrast of the Ultra. It would help with battery efficiency, too. And this was the year it was thought that Apple would bright it to the Ultra.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Earlier this year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple had scrapped those plans entirely, meaning that no Apple Watch in the foreseeable future would have a microLED display.

It’s possible that with the new processor (which Apple is expected to announce with its new smartwatches), the third-generation Ultra will have a very similar Retina OLED display as previous models.

Some under the hood upgrades

You probably won’t be able to see the biggest change with the upcoming Ultra 3 — that’s because it’ll be its new processor.

Last year, the Ultra 2 featured Apple’s upgraded S9 chip, which is the thing that enabled the smartwatch’s newest features like double tap gesture controls and on-device Siri processing. (The other significant new feature, Precision Finding, was enabled by the Ultra 2’s second-gen Ultra Wideband chip.)

According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, the new processor that the Ultra 3 will undoubtedly feature is expected to “lay the groundwork for some AI enhancements down the road.” What that exactly means, we don’t quite know.

Tucker Bowe

A helpful wellness feature

If there is a “most-hyped feature” that is rumored to be coming with the Apple Watch Ultra 3, it’s sleep apnea detection. This is being touted as a health and wellness feature that’s piggybacks on the Apple Watch’s sleep-tracking capabilities.

If you don’t know, sleep apnea is a pretty common condition where people have shallow breathing — or even stop breathing — while sleeping. This causes poor sleep quality and can lead to a number of other health issues. If sleep apnea is detected, your Apple Watch could tell you to see a doctor for further testing.

That said, if you’re not somebody who wearers their Apple Watch to bed — a lot of people don’t as they find it uncomfortable or need to find time to charge it — this obviously won’t be feature that makes much of a difference.

Also, the upcoming Series 10 is rumored to be getting sleep apnea detection as well, so it won’t be exclusive to the Ultra line.

Apple is expected to announce its new lineup of Apple Watches (alongside new iPhones and AirPods) at its “It’s Glowtime” event that will take place on September 9th.

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