The Apple Watch Ultra lineup is the most rugged smartwatch offering from the brand, featuring top-tier features. But this year, the third iteration of the Apple Watch Ultra is said to take things a notch higher with new and improved hardware and features.
As we await the official launch of the Apple Watch Ultra 3, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has revealed a bunch of possible upgrades that we can expect on this year’s offering. Here’s a roundup of everything we know about the Apple Watch Ultra 3 so far.
Apple Watch Ultra 3: Expected release date
In his newsletter Power On, Mark Gurman mentions that Apple is expected to release the Apple Watch Ultra 3 in the second half of 2025. If we go by the previous launch schedules followed by Apple for the Watch Ultra releases, we can expect the Apple Watch Ultra 3 to launch sometime in September this year alongside the iPhone 17 Air and other product upgrades.
Apple Watch Ultra 3: Expected specs
Display technology
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 already features a large 1.93-inch OLED display in a Grade 5 Titanium casing in Black and Natural finish options. However, Apple is expected to adopt a microLED display for the Watch Ultra 3, as per the supply chain market research firm, TrendForce. But that’s not all. The firm also pointed out during the 2023 SEMICON conference in Japan that the Watch Ultra 3 could be announced with a 10% bigger display sized at 2.12-inch.
Two key suppliers—German LED giant OSRAM and South Korean panel manufacturer LG Display—will likely provide the microLED chips smaller than 10x10um and LTPO glass panels, respectively for the Watch Ultra 3.
That said, this claim is debatable as TrendForce itself claims that an Apple Watch Ultra model sporting a microLED display is not expected to be released until 2026. So, we will have to wait for more details to emerge.
Hardware and performance upgrades
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 runs on an S9 chip and offers 64GB of storage. It marked an upgrade in terms of both the chip and internal storage from its previous generation. As such, an upgrade to an S10 chip on the Watch Ultra 3 seems obvious.
Speaking of connectivity, Gurman reports that Apple is expected to adopt MediaTek modems for the Watch Ultra 3 to provide 5G connectivity. The MediaTek modems will reportedly feature 5G Redcap support. 5G RedCap is short for 5G Reduced Capability. It is also called 5G NR-Light and is meant to provide lower latency, higher peak data rate, and improved power consumption. This, combined with a microLED display, can result in improved battery life on the Watch Ultra 3.
Let’s hope that Apple also upgrades the charging speeds. The Watch UItra 2 requires 90 minutes to fully charge from 0-100 percent.
Apple Watch Ultra 3: Expected features
Health and fitness features
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 provides multiple health and fitness features like ECG, blood oxygen saturation, heart-rate tracking, fall detection, and sleep apnea detection. With the Watch Ultra 3, Apple is tipped to finally introduce blood pressure monitoring that was initially meant to launch in 2024.
However, during the initial release, the blood pressure monitoring system is not expected to provide precise systolic and diastolic readings. It will focus on summarized blood pressure readings that will help you detect hypertension.
Along with this, you can expect the Watch Ultra 3 to feature improved sleep-tracking capabilities and heart rate accuracy. Since Apple Intelligence is the company’s giant leap in the world of AI, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 can surely be expected to follow in the footsteps of iPhone and Mac models that feature Apple Intelligence.
Satellite texting capabilities
Another big feature introduction that Gurman is pointing towards on the Watch Ultra 3 is sending messages via satellite. After launching Emergency SOS via Satellite with the iPhone 14 series, Apple introduced satellite messaging capabilities during the launch of iOS 18. The feature basically lets you send text messages to emergency contacts and family members at locations with no internet and mobile network availability.
Apple is teaming up with Global Star to utilize their fleet of satellites for sending text messages using Watch Ultra 3. If this turns out to be true during the launch, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 will become the first mainstream smartwatch to feature satellite communication features.
Apple Watch Ultra 3: Expected price
Currently, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 starts at $799, which is already a hefty price tag for a smartwatch. Given the rumors of microLED, it seems unlikely that Apple would launch the Watch Ultra 3 at a lower or same price as last year. So, you may have to splurge more to get your hands on one.
Along with the Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple is also expected to announce the Apple Watch SE 3 with a new look while the Watch Series 11 is expected to look the same as the Watch Series 10.
Wrapping up
With expected upgrades like satellite messaging and a blood pressure monitoring system, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is definitely something to look forward to in September 2025 along with a bunch of other product launches. If you an ultra fan of the Apple Watch Ultra series, share your expectations about the upcoming model in the comments below.
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