You Can’t Buy the New-Chip, Speedier Apple Watch Ultra 4 Yet, But These Apple Watches Are On Sale Right Now
· Vice
The next Apple Watch Ultra is on the way, and the early details are enough to make anyone currently wearing an Ultra 1 or 2 start side-eyeing their wrist. The Ultra 4 is expected to launch alongside a fully-stacked fall lineup, and while we don’t have final specs yet, what we do know paints a picture of Apple’s most capable smartwatch getting its biggest jump in years.
If you’re the type who refreshes every rumor roundup, here’s what’s coming, when you can actually get one, and what’s worth buying today if a month feels like forever.
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What’s Actually Changing
The headline upgrade has to be the chip. Apple Watch processing speed has barely moved since the S9 landed in 2023, but Ultra 4 is rumored to bring a meaningfully faster S11 chip built to keep up with Apple’s new Siri AI, which is a centerpiece of this fall’s software update. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that the Ultra 4 and Series 12 will get a long-awaited bump in chip performance and speed, even though the Apple Watch’s S10 chip shipped just a year ago—which, itself, didn’t bring much new processing power to the table (er… your wrist).
Health tracking is also getting an overhaul. Digitimes has reported that Apple Watch Ultra 4 will roughly double its sensor components, with a significant upgrade to its sensing functions overall. Apple is also said to be developing a new high blood pressure notification feature currently under FDA review, so expect that to factor in somewhere. Round it out with rumored gains in power efficiency that should translate to better battery life, on top of an Ultra 3 that already gets close to two days per charge, and this is shaping up to be more than yet another spec-bump year.
When It’s Actually Coming, and How to Order
Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro event is expected the week of September 8 or 9, following the company’s pattern of avoiding the day right after Labor Day, with the official announcement itself expected sometime in late-August. The Apple Watch Ultra 4 and Series 12 are expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup at that same event. Pre-orders for new hardware have historically opened that Friday, typically around 5 a.m. Pacific / 8 a.m. Eastern, with the watches landing in stores roughly a week after that.
So, if the same pattern holds, you’re looking at a September 8 or 9 reveal, pre-orders around September 11, and the watch on wrists shortly after. Nothing’s official until Apple sends the invite, of course, so treat these as very optimistically educated guesses.
Can’t Wait? These Apple Watches Are on Sale Right Now
If a few weeks of waiting isn’t happening (or maybe you just never go for the newest, potentially overhyped and budget-killing model), the good news is the current Apple Watch lineup is actively discounted heading into September, likely as retailers clear space for what’s next.
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is the closest thing to the Ultra 4 you can buy today, and it’s currently sitting near its lowest price of the year:
(opens in a new window) AppleApple Watch Ultra 3 (49mm, Black Titanium) (opens in a new window)
$699.99 (reg.$799) at Amazon Buy Now (opens in a new window)Don’t need the full rugged, satellite-SOS experience? The Series 11 covers most of the same health and fitness basics in a lighter, cheaper package:
(opens in a new window) AppleApple Watch Series 11 (42mm GPS) (opens in a new window)
$299 (reg. $399) at Amazon Buy Now (opens in a new window)If you just want a reliable Apple Watch without spending that Ultra money, the SE 3 is the budget pick, currently down to some of its best pricing yet.
(opens in a new window) AppleApple Watch SE 3 (40mm GPS) (opens in a new window)
$219 (reg. $249) at Amazon Buy Now (opens in a new window)The post You Can’t Buy the New-Chip, Speedier Apple Watch Ultra 4 Yet, But These Apple Watches Are On Sale Right Now appeared first on VICE.