September means its time for another big Apple event, featuring the launch of many of the company’s flagship products, including a new iPhone, AirPods and, perhaps most importantly for runners, updates to the Apple Watch lineup.
It was widely believed that Apple would roll out a Series 10 midrange smartwatch (which it did) and update its flagship model, the Ultra (which it did not).
Many media outlets reported on the event and have broken down the features for the broad consumer, but few have taken a look at what these updates mean for the runner.
So let’s take a look at the core Apple Watch updates from the “It’s Glowtime” Sept. 9 Apple event, and whether or not any of these new products will have a significant impact on us as runners.
Takeaway #1: Apple Watch Series 10 Is Thin, Bright and Powerful. And “Ultra-Lite”
Historically, Apple has announced a new version of the baseline Apple Watch in September of each year. This year’s event was no different, with the introduction of the Series 10, the company’s straight-down-the-middle smartwatch offering. And you can set your Apple Watch to someone from the company stating on the live stream something to the effect of “We believe this is the best watch ever for the vast majority of people.” And again this year they are probably right.
Interestingly, Apple’s designers literally tore up its previous design approach and rebuilt the housing for Series 10. The new look is simulatenously bigger and sleeker: Series 10 features a larger screen, while becoming thinner on the wrist. It’s also uniformly brighter and just so much closer to being that “watch from the future” we all envisioned it would one day become when Apple first rolled out version zero a decade ago. Series 10 pretty much nails it, in terms of build quality, overall size on the wrist, core functionality and everyday versatility.
Series 10 is a legitimately exciting update for runners specifically, as it’s quite a bit thinner and lighter than Series 9 and should feel more natural and less bulky on the wrist. This new model also boasts a LTP03 OLED display, which takes up nearly all of the real estate of the housing, is sharper, screams its image at you, and has a more uniform clear viewing angle than any previous version of the baseline Apple Watch. This means that, when you glance down at it during a workout, you’re not going to have to do a double take to sort out even the smaller onscreen characters. It’s a subtle detail, but there’s nothing more annoying than having to do a double take just to be sure of your last mile split mid-workout, even on the sunniest of days.
In fact, this version of the OLED screen on the Series 10 is technically superior to the one found in the Ultra 2, which is a significantly pricier watch. It’s curious that Apple is perhaps cannibalizing itself here by creating a device that will directly compete with the Ultra for many consumers. But this is a big win for lots of runners out there who were previously torn between saving a bit of money with the Series 9 while sacrificing the robust feature set of the Ultra 2. The truth is, for a lot of runners, Series 10 is going to be more than enough watch.
Series 10 also leverages the new S10 chip, which is quicker than the Ultra 2’s S9, although both are impressive and will be capable of handling lots of AI tasks via Apple’s soon-to-be-supercharged “Apple Intelligence” infused Siri on both watches (more on that below).
Even with the bigger, brighter screen and more powerful processor, Series 10 will offer the same battery life as Series 9, rated at “up to 18 hours” during what Apple is describing as “normal use” (so, having it paired to a phone in close proximity, running various apps in the background, and, say, running the Exercise app while listening to the Music app while paired to AirPods). In “low power mode” Series 10 should serve up about 36 hours of battery life, so no big changes if you’re already a Series 8 or 9 owner.
Series 10 also inches closer to being comparable to the Ultra series in terms of its fit and finish. It’s now available in titanium (which was previously an Ultra exclusive), as well as a new “jet black” look. Of course, the more premium titanium material will set you back an extra $100 USD.
The final Series 10 upgrade that might matter for multisport athletes is its ability to now measure water depth and temperature (another feature that had previously only been available in the Ultra series).
The Series 10 starts at $399, and scales up to $749 for the larger 46mm size in the titanium finish, so in terms of price, the higher end version is comparable to the Ultra 2, while still lacking a few key features runners would probably want to see in a watch.
Takeaway #2: Introducing the New Apple Watch Ultra… 2?
The Ultra series is Apple’s answer to a fully featured Garmin, Suunto or Coros running watch, while offering aspects of a luxury timepiece that would cost significantly more (and not be able to serve up your marathon splits).
The Ultra 2, which was released last September, became arguably the best fully featured premium smartwatch on the market for runners, if you ignore the tradeoff it must make in terms of battery usage in order to run all the features its designed to serve up when connected to either an iPhone or cell service. Core running brands just can’t compete with Apple when it comes to designing a super high-end smartwatch that also happens to be a work of elegant industrial art.
Upon its release, Ultra 2 had the brightest screen of any consumer device ever (including phones, which is impressive), decent enough battery life (36ish hours of normal use; 72 hours in low power mode), dual GPS units for super accurate location data (we’ve tested it and it’s as good as any unit available), and a bevy of other nice-to-haves for serious runners who are also iPhone users. (If you don’t live within the Apple ecosystem, an Apple Watch doesn’t make much sense.)
Pretty much every tech industry insider has been reporting for months that the September Apple event would feature the launch of the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Instead, Apple merely introduced a new Ultra 2 color (“satin black”), and a fancy new matching strap.
Queue the sad trombone.
Takeaway #3: But Apple Watch Ultra 2 Is Still Really Good (And Good Value)
And while the midrange Series 10 has closed in on Apple Watch Ultra 2 in terms of respective feature sets, the latter still feels like the decidedly better option for serious distance runners. The Ultra 2 still has a big battery life advantage over the Series 10, which reduces charging anxiety and makes this model a more realistic all-day and all-night companion for monitoring everything from workouts to recovery to sleep.
The Ultra 2 also sports the added “action” button, which can be programmed to activate a workout with one touch (or pretty much anything else you want to assign it to do). Physical buttons are still necessary for runners (as sweat and touch screens don’t play nice with each other). Although, soon enough, Siri should be able to manage the vast majority of workout related functions via voice command. Perhaps one day, thanks to a smarter Siri, all of our finish line photos won’t feature us physically stopping our watch in the big moment.
And perhaps most crucially, the Ultra 2 remains superior to the new Series 10 because it houses a dual frequency GPS unit, meaning it’s pinpoint accurate, keeping it right on par with Garmin’s Fenix and Suunto’s Vertical models. Ultra 2 is capable of delivering turn-by-turn directions on backcountry trails, and does an admirable job fighting with skyscrapers to locate you during a major city marathon. We haven’t tested the Series 10’s GPS functionality just yet, but Series 9 was fine for most runners, but can’t guarantee the accuracy of its more premium Ultra sibling.
Apple also announced at the event that Ultra 2 is getting a “Tides” app, which will provide weather app-like data on specific tides in your area, if you happen to be by the ocean. While this isn’t a terribly useful feature for runners, it’ll be a welcomed add-on if you’re doing Ironman training and plan on tackling an open water swim. The tidal data fits nicely with other Ultra 2-only features, like its ability to sense if you’re doing a workout on a track and deliver accurate data (no doubt afforded by its more sensitive GPS capability), the slick “pacer” feature when doing a running workout, and the newly added “training load” feedback, which feels like Apple is closing the loop on how we can make sense of all this data to recover properly, peak for the big race, and just run better and stay healthy and fit over time (more on that in a bit).
So, the big question lingers: when can we expect Apple Watch Ultra 3?
Probably in September 2024, meaning it’s still a solid option if you’re in the market for an Apple product as your next running watch, but it’s disappointing that we won’t see a big update to this flagship Apple product any time soon.
The starting price for Apple Watch Ultra 2 remains at $799, which is actually an excellent value, as its competitors in the space are around the $1,000 mark. If you like Apple products, own an iPhone, and are a committed runner, the Ultra 2 is still probably the best bang for your buck.
Takeaway #4: “Apple Intelligence” Will Make Running with an Apple Watch Super Seamless
No doubt someone in Apple’s marketing department had the fist pump moment of the decade when they realized that “AI” could be contorted into meaning “Apple Intelligence” for the company’s products. And this Apple event teased this bold new world.
Apple was a bit late to the “AI” trend, but it’s making a big push in the second half of 2024, and the company’s execs spent every opportunity at the event reminding us of this.
Apple’s own, bespoke variant of machine learning algorithms leveraging large language models are going to unlock your iPhone and Watch in heretofore unimaginably exciting ways. Or, at the very least, Siri won’t suck as much at skipping that next podcast ad.
For runners, a smarter Siri will mean a less frustrating user experience. When Apple finally rolls out its next set of updates for Watch Series 10, as well as the Ultra 2 (along with the last couple of iterations of the iPhone, these devices are powerful enough to handle the upgrades), you’ll be able to interact with the watch in a way that perhaps you’d envisioned when Siri was first launched several years ago.
One key difference might remain between the Series 10 and the Ultra 2 in this regard: the latter has a 4-core neural engine baked into the SiP (basically, the little chip that runs the watch) that allows it to have a more powerful version of Siri onboard, without needing to ping the internet for help with tasks. It’s unclear how powerful Series 10 will be when not paired with an iPhone or connected by cell service, but it’s likely that the Ultra 2 will remain the stronger option to unlock the full potential of Apple Intelligence on your wrist. (Also, look for a huge SiP power bump in the eventual Ultra 3 next year as a big selling point for an upgrade.)
Sometime in the near future, you’ll be able to ask Siri mid-run to, say, curate a playlist that fits with your target heart rate zone for your scheduled workout, or find you a podcast that will perfectly fit the projected length of your 10K easy run.
These sound like minor improvements to our already decadent experience with this technology (and they are). But for Apple (and anyone who’s ever been frustrated by having to stop mid-run to fiddle with their watch), this will be the culmination of years of working towards having these devices just work the way they should.
Finally, Siri will be a compatible running buddy at some point in the next few months.
Takeaway #5: Apple Is Filling in the Gaps in the Healthcare Industry. It Could Do the Same for High Performance Sports
OK, this one is a bit of a 30,000-foot perspective on two decidedly non-runner focused features Apple announced at the event: its new sleep apnea detection algorithm, and the hearing aid features coming to the updated AirPods.
Soon after introducing the first Series of Apple Watch all those years ago, the company seemed to realize the device’s incredible potential as a lynchpin in the healthcare system, making it an indispensable device for millions of people. It can detect sudden falls, early warning signs of a heart condition, and now Series 9, 10 and Ultra 2 will be able to sense if a wearer is suffering from sleep apnea, which is a breathing disorder that’s wrecking the health of millions, and largely goes undiagnosed.
But what does this have to do with running?
Not much, on the surface. But it shows how deep Apple is willing to go with its Watch feature set if its engineers realize that the device is filling in a major gap in an industry.
Apple boasted during the event that it’s been able to crack the code of detecting sleep apnea by running massive studies and conducting them with the sheer number of people worldwide who wear their product and let it monitor their vitals. Now, imagine if (or rather when) the company decides to close the gap on how we understand all that heart rate, sleep and other key performance data we collect on our wrist daily? If Apple Intelligence ends up being as powerful as what’s being suggested, we could see some major breakthroughs in how we interpret and leverage all that data we’re generating every time we go for a run. It’s wild to think that each of us wears a running watch, which can now glean more information than most high performance sports labs could a decade ago. But what we do with that information remains vague. Apple could decide to fix that in the coming months and years, and bake it into a WatchOS update, so you can just ask, “Hey Siri, what should I run today so I can PR in the marathon this fall?”
And your Apple Watch might just know the answer.
