Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · Sep 30
Apple Watch Ultra 4 Improves Health Tracking and 50-Hour Battery at $799
Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · Sep 30

Apple Watch Ultra 4 Improves Health Tracking and 50-Hour Battery at $799

3 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · Sep 30

Summary

  • $799 Apple Watch Ultra 4 keeps its predecessor’s price while adding stronger health tracking and Apple’s longest smartwatch battery life, though some headline features are still missing at launch.
  • 50-hour rated battery life—up from 42 hours on Ultra 3—and 84 hours in low-power mode were standout gains in testing, with a 15-minute fast charge now delivering up to 18 hours.
  • A new Health Sensing System shifts heart-rate sampling from every five minutes to every five seconds and powers a 0-10 Readiness Score, while the redesigned Health app aims to make dense metrics easier to act on.
  • Several core additions remain incomplete: the new Health app features only recently appeared in iOS 27 betas, and Audio Intelligence tools including Live Rewind and Siri Recap are delayed until later this year.
  • The review says Ultra 3 owners can skip the upgrade, but users on older or non-Ultra Apple Watches get Apple’s best smartwatch yet despite a largely unchanged 49mm design.

Insights

Is Apple’s Watch Ultra 4 worth $799 now, or are buyers paying early for health and AI features still arriving later?
Can Apple’s new Readiness and Vitals tools actually change habits, or do they just make smartwatch health data look easier to understand?