Apple Watch Ultra 3: screen could get bigger
Apple's most expensive computer watch has been waiting for a major update for two years. Will this finally happen with the Ultra 3? New rumors.
Apple Watch Ultra: Last year there was only one new color.
(Image: Apple)
Fans of the Apple Watch Ultra were disappointed by the manufacturer last autumn: together with the (significantly improved) Series 10 of the regular computer watch, an additional dark color version of the Ultra 2 was simply launched on the market without even minimally changing it internally. The "punishment" followed on its heels: Apple's wearables department has been losing ground in terms of sales for several quarters now. All eyes are therefore on this September: The Ultra 3 is expected to be unveiled as part of the iPhone 17 keynote, which is likely to take place on the 9th of the month. Further details have now been leaked: major technical innovations are to be expected.
More pixels = more sharpness
This week, it emerged that Apple's top smartwatch will have a slightly larger screen in future – at least in terms of resolution. Code leak expert Aaron Perris discovered when looking through the latest developer beta of iOS 26 that this could be 422 × 514 pixels in the future instead of just 410 × 502 pixels. An image in the operating system that belongs to the Apple Watch suggests this. No Apple computer watch currently uses 422 by 514 pixels.
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For comparison: The enlarged Series 10 comes with 416 by 496 pixels, but annoyingly does not display all the complications that the Ultra can handle. The higher resolution probably does not mean that the Ultra 3 is larger than the previous model – Apple is more likely to reduce the display edge. This strategy has been used for several generations of the computer watch, which has been on the market for 10 years this year. It is also not yet possible to say what practical effects the extra pixels will have. The extra 12 pixels in both the X and Y directions are unlikely to provide enough space for additional widgets, but at least the sharpness could be increased slightly.
Further innovations in the Ultra 3
In addition to the better screen, the rumor mill also assumes that the Ultra 3 will have a faster chip (system-in-a-package, SiP), the screen could have a higher frame rate in always-on mode (also thanks to LTPO3) and readability could improve thanks to wide-angle OLED. There has also been repeated speculation about slimmed-down 5G support (the Watch currently only supports LTE) and satellite communication, at least for exchanging text messages.
Finally, there have been hopes for years that Apple would implement blood pressure measurement in an Apple Watch for the first time. This could be achieved using an optical sensor, but newly developed algorithms would have to ensure that the accuracy is right. In principle, it is conceivable that Apple would not provide real blood pressure values, but only record deviations from a standard value to send warnings to the user if necessary. The company already works similarly with body temperature.
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