Early Verdict
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 boasts a redesigned health sensor system for improved continuous heart rate and heart rate variability tracking. It also features better battery performance (up to 48 hours per charge), new health metrics like a daily Readiness Score and Health Age, and a faster, more modern processor. There are also a lot of new Siri AI-powered features, including Live Rewind and Siri Recap. However, the overall design and display are a match with last year's model.
Pros
- +
S-11 series chip
- +
Improved continuous heart rate monitoring
- +
Daily readiness score
- +
Siri AI voice assistant
- +
New AI-powered audio intelligence features
- +
48 hours of battery, up from 42 hours
- +
No price increase
Cons
- -
Same screen and design as before
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
The new Apple Watch Ultra 4 is here, and while it may look identical to its predecessor, I assure you it is not. Under the hood, the Ultra 4 sports a new, speedier processor, a more accurate/robust health sensor array, better battery life, and lots of cool AI tools.
Here's everything you need to know about the new Apple Watch Ultra 4 smartwatch based on our hands-on experience with the device at the official "Surprise and Shine" launch event in Cupertino, California.
Apple Watch Ultra 4: Quick facts
- Improved battery life: lasts up to 50 hours per charge compared to 42 hours for the Ultra 3
- New S11 chip: Faster, more efficient processing with support for Siri AI features
- Redesigned holistic sensors: Apple says this is the most accurate heart rate sensor on a wearable; heart rate and HRV are sampled more frequently than before; HRV insights are now more readily displayed in the Health app
- New health metrics: the Ultra 4 supports a new Readiness score and Health Age metric
- Siri AI features: the Ultra 4 ships with support for Siri AI voice assistance; new "Audio Intelligence" features help you better navigate life's fine details
Apple Watch Ultra 4: Specs
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Apple Watch Ultra 4 |
Apple Watch Ultra 3 |
Apple Watch Series 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
Starting price |
$799 |
$799 |
$399 |
Dimensions |
49 x 44 x 12 mm |
49 x 44 x 12 mm |
46mm: 46 x 40 x 9.7mm / 42mm: 42 x 37 x 9.7mm |
Case colors |
Titanium: Natural, Black |
Titanium: Natural, Black |
Aluminum: Dark Bronze, Light Gold, Black, Space Gray / Titanium: Radiant Gold, Natural / Ceramic: Pearl White, Night Blue |
Display |
422 x 514 pixels (Always-On LTPO3 Wide-Angle OLED) |
422 x 514 pixels (Always-On LTPO3 Wide-Angle OLED) |
46mm: 416 x 496 pixels / 44mm: 374 x 446 pixels (Always-On LTPO3 Wide-Angle OLED) |
Display brightness |
3,000 nits |
3,000 nits |
2,000 nits |
Weight |
~63 g |
~61 g |
46mm: ~ 39 g / 44mm: ~32 g |
Processor |
S11 |
S10 |
S11 |
Cellular |
56 |
5G |
5G |
Water resistance |
100 meters |
100 meters |
50 meters |
Battery life with always-on display (rated) |
50 hours |
42 hours |
24 hours |
Compatibility |
iOS 27 or later |
iOS 26 or later |
iOS 27 or later |
Apple Watch Ultra 4 hands-on review: Price and availability
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is available for preorder from September 9, 2026. Units should hit store shelves and your hands starting on September 18.
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is $799, the same price as the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and prior models.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 hands-on review: Design and display
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 looks physically identical to the Ultra 3, boasting the same dimensions, oversized display with 3,000 nits of max brightness, an all-titanium case, and 100 meters of water resistance.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 hands-on review: Health and fitness upgrades
Apple totally redesigned the health sensor array on the Ultra 4 to make its heart rate data more accurate, efficient, and frequently sampled. The new health sensing system now samples your heart rate every five seconds, 60x more frequently than its predecessor.
It also reads your heart rate variability every 15 seconds, a 24x increase in frequency over the Ultra 3. Apple also completely reworked the pedometer algorithm for improved step count accuracy and more precise distance data when logging an outdoor workout.
Apple is also adding several handy new metrics to the Health app, including a daily Readiness score that is based on your recent workouts, sleep quality, and vitals. There's also a new Health Age score that compares your physical fitness to the average for your age range.
Later this year, a redesigned Health app is expected to launch with a greater emphasis on long-term trend reporting and actionable Siri AI-powered insights and advice.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 hands-on review: AI features
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 ships running watchOS 27, which means that it's one of the very first Apple Watch models to support Apple's Siri AI voice assistant, which is trained to answer queries and provide context-based guidance tailored to the individual user.
Siri AI also powers a handful of new "Audio Intelligence" features like Live Rewind, which lets you go back and relisten to the past 15 seconds of ambient sound at any given time by double-pressing the digital crown.
Not the best note-taker? Siri Recap can listen into your conversation or meeting and automatically generate a report highlighting key topics, along with an overall summary of what was discussed.
Finally, the Ultra 4 supports Apple's Sound Recognition technology, which can automatically alert users when common sounds like a doorbell or fire alarm are observed.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 hands-on review: Battery life
The Ultra 4 sees a welcome battery life rating increase from 42 hours per charge to 50 hours per charge.
The Apple Watch Ultra series has always been the brand's longest-lasting, and the latest Ultra 4 sees a welcome battery life rating increase from 42 hours per charge to 50 hours per charge.
When recording outdoor workouts with full heart rate and GPS data, the Ultra 4 is rated for roughly 18 hours per charge. However, a new Max Extended tracking mode increases that rating to an impressive 45 hours of use per charge.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 hands-on review: Should you buy?
Without thoroughly testing the improved battery life, health tracking, and outdoor workout logging claims, it's impossible to say for certain whether the Apple Watch Ultra 4 is a must-buy. The same goes for all the new holistic tools and AI features.
Furthermore, some of the advertised upgrades won't be available right at launch; the redesigned Health app with improved longevity insights and custom-tailored holistic advice won't be ready until later this year.
This is to say, it's probably best to hold off on dropping serious dough on the Ultra 4 until our full review is live later this month.
