In just a few days, Apple will kick off its Wonderlust event, and while we know a lot about the iPhone 15, we’ve been somewhat in the dark about the upgrades coming to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. A new report from Bloomberg sheds some light on what to expect from Apple’s next lineup of wearables.
According to Mark Gurman, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 will focus on “speed, efficiency, and accuracy” as Apple looks to bring a series of under-the-hood upgrades. He reports that Apple is planning to add a fourth-gen optical heart rate sensor, an upgrade from the third-gen sensor that was introduced with the Apple Watch Series 6. It’s unclear what specific improvements the third-gen sensor brought over the second-gen sensor, but the fourth-gen will be faster and more accurate, according to Gurman.
Apple will also reportedly include a new U2 chip in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2, an upgrade over the U1 chip. Gurman says the new chip will improve location abilities for more precise tracking in the Find My app.
Finally, the new watches will showcase the all-new S9 processor, which will bring “major gains in processing speed” and possibly battery life improvements. And the Apple Watch Ultra 2 may have a second “dark titanium” color option. Apple will also reportedly use 3D printing for some models, though it’s unlikely Apple will talk about that during the presentation.
Apple will unveil the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 at the Wonderlust event on Tuesday at 10am PT. Follow along with Macworld for all of the announcements as they happen.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.