11 days with the Apple Watch Ultra

It’s great, but I’m sticking with my Series 4 for now.

There’s nothing wrong with the Apple Watch Ultra. Not even the stuff I expected to take issue with ended up bothering me.

It’s a premium smartwatch that improves upon older models in almost every way, and introduces a new category for Apple’s wearables family. I’m excited to see them further differentiate it in future generations.

But for now, I didn’t end up keeping mine. As much as I enjoyed wearing it, it doesn’t provide $1,200 CAD of additional value over my old but reliable Series 4.

A friend asked: what would provide additional value? I had no good answer, which told me that I shouldn’t be spending $1,200 in the hopes of finding out.

But before I shrug and move on with my life, I did want to share a few quick notes about my experience.

Things I thought would bother me that actually didn’t

1. The size & weight. The titanium case feels a lot lighter than it looks, and while the additional height of the case was certainly noticeable, it didn’t cause any issues. It doesn’t manoeuvre as effortlessly under a tight sleeve, sure, but that wasn’t a deal-breaker for me. I think the absence of rounded edges makes more of a difference there than the height itself. Luckily, my wrists are also wide enough that it doesn’t look disproportionate on me.
2. The price. This is an expensive toy, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t feeling too bad about spending the money given my history with this category. I owned the Series 0 from day one and held off on upgrading until the Series 4 rolled around. For something I use daily, wear on my body at all times, and don’t want to upgrade frequently, I don’t mind paying a little extra for quality. The Ultra’s fit and finish is impeccable, and since I also happen to be a diving enthusiast, I looked at it as a way to keep the features I want in a smartwatch while also giving me basic dive computer functionality that I don’t have to pay for in a separate device. Expensive? Yes. Overpriced? I don’t think so.
3. The design. It’s still an ugly watch. I find the Ultra even uglier than the standard Apple Watch Series, but at this…