Meet the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, the two new Apple smartwatches coming soon. In this hands-on first look, we check out the pink Apple Watch color, the handy double-tap gesture, some of the new sustainability-minded Apple Watch bands and more.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 I'm here in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park
00:10 and behind me is a hands-on area
00:12 with all the new devices that Apple just announced.
00:15 I'm one of the first people to go hands-on
00:17 with the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
00:20 Let's go take a closer look.
00:22 (upbeat music)
00:24 So there's a lot to unpack
00:26 with the new Apple Watch family for 2023,
00:28 but let's start with the new pink color.
00:31 It's much more subtle than I was expecting, but it's nice.
00:35 It's almost like a take on starlight, but a bit pinker.
00:39 Not quite the rose gold that the Apple Watch used to have,
00:41 but we haven't had a new Apple Watch color in a few years.
00:44 So I think that's something that people
00:46 are gonna be excited to see when they walk into the store
00:48 and pick out which Apple Watch model they want.
00:51 Apple Watch Series 9.
00:52 This is probably the biggest update under the hood
00:55 for the Apple Watch that we've seen in years.
00:57 We have the new S9 processor,
00:59 which is 25% more power efficient than before.
01:02 So that lets the Apple Watch get brighter up to 2000 nits
01:06 while maintaining the same 18 hour all day battery life.
01:09 The S9 chip also powers some new Siri experiences.
01:13 Siri processing now takes place 100% on the Apple Watch,
01:16 so you're saving time by not going up to the clouds.
01:18 You should get faster responses.
01:20 Dictation through Siri is also supposed to be 25%
01:24 more accurate than before.
01:25 But that's not the only new chip inside.
01:27 We also have the new ultra wide band chip.
01:30 And what that does is it makes it easier to find your phone.
01:33 There are also some experiences powered
01:35 through the new ultra wide band chip with your HomePod.
01:38 So if you have a HomePod and you go up to it
01:40 and you're wearing your Apple Watch on your smart stack,
01:42 you'll be prompted to launch music.
01:44 So it just takes away some of the friction
01:45 with getting your music started from your wrist.
01:48 On this Apple Watch Series 9 model,
01:49 I have the palette watch face going.
01:51 That's one of the two new watch faces available
01:53 in watchOS 10, which will ship with the Apple Watch Series 9
01:57 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
01:59 But there's another face here too, Snoopy.
02:01 Some fun animations through the day.
02:03 So these are some experiences that I think
02:05 will go really nicely with the new Apple Watch.
02:07 Again, sustainability minded changes.
02:10 We're definitely at forefront when looking
02:12 at the new Apple Watch lineup.
02:13 And that carries out to the Apple Watch bands.
02:15 You're looking at the new fine woven material.
02:18 Apple is no longer using leather for Apple Watch bands.
02:21 So this is an alternative.
02:22 It's meant to feel premium.
02:25 Nice magnetic closure there.
02:26 Plenty of band options this year
02:28 that are playing up Apple's carbon neutral mission.
02:31 We're looking at the new Nike Sport Band.
02:34 And if you see these little speckles,
02:36 those are actually all recycled materials.
02:39 And the result of that is that no two of these watch bands
02:42 will look the same.
02:43 So if you're all about having a unique Apple Watch band,
02:47 this might be the way to go.
02:48 A new Apple Watch feature that we saw demoed today
02:51 alongside the announcement of the Apple Watch Series 9
02:54 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 is called Double Tap.
02:57 It's kind of, think of Apple Watch as accessibility gestures
03:00 but this one is meant to be used
03:01 in all sorts of everyday scenarios.
03:03 Say you have something else in your hand,
03:05 you're juggling a coffee, you're walking a dog.
03:07 Double Tap should let you use your Apple Watch
03:09 in a lot of ways that you couldn't before.
03:11 So it's really as simple as double tapping
03:14 to launch your smart stack.
03:16 And if I continue to double tap,
03:17 it's gonna take me through my entire smart stack.
03:21 I can use the double tap to start the timer
03:25 or wait to pause it.
03:29 So if you've been watching my videos for a while,
03:30 you know the camera remote
03:31 is probably my favorite Apple Watch app
03:34 but Double Tap gives it even more functionality.
03:36 Now you can use the Double Tap function
03:38 to use camera remote to initiate the shutter
03:41 to take hands-free photos even easier.
03:43 The Apple Watch Ultra 2
03:49 has a lot of the same internal upgrades
03:51 as the Apple Watch Series 9.
03:52 That includes the S9 processor
03:55 and the new U2 Ultra Wideband chip.
03:57 And while it might not look all that much different
04:00 from the first gen Apple Watch Ultra,
04:02 you're looking at a 95% recycled titanium casing
04:05 as opposed to using virgin titanium.
04:08 So if you pair your Apple Watch Ultra 2
04:10 with the Trail Loop or the Alpine Loop,
04:12 you're looking at a carbon neutral smartwatch.
04:15 What's pretty cool here on the Apple Watch Ultra 2,
04:17 we have the new modular Ultra watch face on display.
04:20 You can see that this really takes advantage
04:23 of that 49 inch display,
04:25 pushing complications as far as they can go
04:27 out to the bezels.
04:28 I mean, just look at how much you can actually see
04:30 at a glance on this watch face.
04:32 Of course, battery life remains a huge advantage
04:34 of owning an Apple Watch Ultra.
04:35 You get up to 36 hours of battery life with normal use.
04:39 Of course, that estimate can go up
04:40 if you use low power mode or power conserve mode.
04:43 So if you're looking for the Apple Watch
04:44 with the longest lasting battery
04:46 and the largest display,
04:48 the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is gonna have a lot of appeal.
04:50 The reason I've been using the first gen Apple Watch Ultra
04:53 comes down to this app right here.
04:54 It's the Siren.
04:56 It goes up to over 80 decibels
04:58 and it's a great safety feature
05:00 if you are either out in the wilderness
05:02 or even just out in the streets of New York
05:05 and wanna have kind of that assurance
05:07 that someone could hear you in case of emergency.
05:10 There you have it, a quick overview
05:11 of the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2
05:14 that we'll have to spend some time with both devices
05:16 to see how those under the hood changes
05:18 really change the Apple Watch experience.
05:21 You can follow along with all of our Apple event coverage
05:23 at Tom's Guide.com and on social @Tom's Guide.
05:26 As always, I'm at Kate Kozich.
05:28 Thanks for watching.
05:29 I'll catch you next time.
05:31 (upbeat music)
05:33 (upbeat music)