Apple Watch Ultra 2 in Satin Black Hands-On: Beyond Color, Here's What's New

Apple has revealed a new color for the $799 Apple Watch Ultra 2, now available in a satin black titanium finish. It was announced alongside the Apple Watch Series 10 at Apple’s Glowtime event and sits at the top of the company’s smartwatch portfolio, offering the longest battery life of any Apple Watch. 

The watch also arrives with a matching black Milanese loop. Like the regular titanium Apple Watch Ultra 2, the satin black version is made from 95% recycled titanium. Apple says the coating was formulated to make it scratch-resistant. The company also partnered with luxury brand Hermes to make the $1,399 Apple Watch Hermes Ultra 2. It has a knit band with a titanium buckle for water sports, plus an exclusive Hermes maritime watch face. Pressing the Action button on this model will launch a countdown timer.

The original Apple Watch Ultra debuted in 2022 for $799 and was Apple’s take on an adventure watch, going head-to-head with outdoor watches from brands like Garmin and Polar. Since then, the company has added even more tools that appeal to sports enthusiasts and athletes, like a Training Load in WatchOS 11 that helps measure workout intensity. 

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New Action Button feature in WatchOS 11

WatchOS 11 adds more features to the Action button, including a long-press. You can bring up a quick list of apps for Workout, Stopwatch, Waypoint, Backtrack, Shortcuts and more. Previously, you were only able to assign the Action button a single function like launching the workout app or the stopwatch.

Apple also added new black finish options for Alpine, Marine and Ocean bands that will match the new black case. These bands are specifically designed for the Apple Watch Ultra, though they can be used with other Apple Watch Series in the larger case sizes.

Like the Series 10, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 will get sleep apnea detection through a software update later in September. It uses the watch accelerometer to monitor small wrist movements that may indicate disturbances in normal breathing patterns. You’ll see a new Breathing Disturbances metric in the Health app.

The Ultra 2 also gets the ability to play back music through the watch speakers, just like the Series 10.

Watch this: New Black Apple Watch Ultra 2 Revealed

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Last year’s Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 added a Double Tap gesture that let you pinch your finger and thumb together twice to control different aspects of the watch. WatchOS 11 adds more capability for Double Tap-compatible watches, which now include the Apple Watch Series 10, such as scrolling through almost any app.

The satin black Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be available Sept. 20 for $799 (£799, AU$1,399), the same price as the previous Apple Watch Ultra 2 with titanium finish and the first Apple Watch Ultra.