Hands-On: The Apple Watch Series 10 And Ultra 2 Black (Video)
This year marks a decade of Apple Watch. In 2014, Apple introduced the very first generation of the Apple Watch, with coverage from the one and only Ben Clymer. In a landscape of objectively clunky designs, the Apple Watch stood out, in typical Apple fashion, as being something different. Last week, Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 10, and we were on the ground to cover the event.
Since last week’s “It’s Glowtime” keynote, I’ve spent a few days with the new Apple Watch Series 10 and the new colorway of the Ultra 2. In the video accompanying this article, I share some key takeaways of the new models, but I’ll elaborate a little further here in text.
Apple Watch Series 10
This year, Apple presented the Series 10 as having a new, redesigned case. While the rounded rectangle silhouette remains, the corners are ever-so-slightly rounder, the Digital Crown is smaller, and the aspect ratio has changed.
With these updates, the Apple Watch feels broader on the wrist. Of course, this is no surprise, as the larger size has changed from 45mm to 46mm. A single millimeter might not seem like much, but combined with the new aspect ratio it is very apparent – it feels squarer. The Series 10 is also the thinnest Apple Watch to date, at 9.7mm. The thinner case also works to exaggerate the effect – but these are not bad things. With the way it wore closer to my wrist, I think that it’s the closest that it’s felt to an actual watch case, rather than a pebble that sat on top of your wrist.
An homage to guilloché.
Another big contribution to the updated profile is the largest display ever in an Apple Watch. More lines of text now fit on the screen at one time, and for the first time since I’ve had an Apple Watch, I found myself reading emails on it. Apple also features a new “wide angle” OLED display, which means that the display is much brighter when viewed from an angle, noticeable when compared to my older Series 7. In the real world, I found it easier to read notifications, especially if I was holding something in my hand like a cup of coffee and couldn’t hold the watch directly towards my face (lest my lap be covered with cold brew). Both of these aren’t mind-blowing upgrades, but they are nice generational improvements.
The “Always On” version of the new Reflections face has a ticking seconds hand.
The always-on display now refreshes once a second instead of once a minute. On the brand new face titled “Reflections” modeled after guilloché (the homage to watchmaking continues), when the display goes into the always-on mode, a ticking seconds hand continues to move. It’s a small update, but we’ve finally crossed over the threshold where the face of an Apple Watch technically does the same thing as most quartz watches.
On the aluminum base models, the new Jet Black finish is an absolute head-turner. This finish made a brief appearance for the iPhone 7, never to be seen again – until now. This is the first time the entry-level aluminum Apple Watch has received a fully polished treatment, and it’s amazing in person. The display and crystal completely blend in with the case, and it’s a really cool illusion. Apple achieves this finish by fully polishing the case, anodizing the aluminum, then using a black dye that gets fully absorbed into the case (not a traditional coating like PVD). The case is sealed and you get a deep black like I’ve never seen before on an Apple Watch, even the older DLC steel versions, and is way smoother to the touch than any watch with a black coating on it.
Fingerprints do show, but I found them easier to wipe off than with coated black finishes. The iPhone 7 in Jet Black was known to show micro-abrasions rather easily in the light, so I’m curious to see how this watch will continue to wear as I put it through its paces. I would imagine that Apple has figured out a few improvements to the process if they’re ready to bring back the Jet Black finish. But also, I think Jet Black makes more sense on a watch than on an iPhone – you’re exposing the case way less to everyday wear and tear. This might be my favorite finish on any Apple Watch, period. It makes the Apple Watch Series 10 with the lowest price tag feel so much sleeker.
The caseback is now also made out of the same material as the body – previously, it was ceramic around the heart-rate sensors.
The iconic red ring around the crown is now gone.
On the premium end of the spectrum, Apple has replaced the stainless-steel variants with grade-5 titanium. That’s a pretty big deal, considering that many watch manufacturers tout grade-5 titanium as a material much harder to both machine and finish (much less fully polish). Certainly, Apple’s ability to manufacture at quantities far beyond any Swiss casemaker helps a lot in achieving this at the price point of $799. The titanium Series 10 comes in Natural, Gold, and Slate, all three PVD coated to achieve their colors. In real life, I like the Natural finish on the one currently on my wrist as I write this story. It’s a bit darker than the older non-coated, polished-stainless-steel finish, which I think adds a bit of a more subtle and elegant quality. The 20% reduction in weight compared to the steel versions is noticeable, but still feels more solid than aluminum.
The softest mesh in the game, 10 years and counting (and still in stainless steel).
Now, a brief bit on the bracelets, since they seemed to draw quite a bit of curiosity from those who followed the release. Apple offers both the Milanese Loop and the Link Bracelet in all three new colors, but they remain in stainless steel. The steel bracelets are PVD coated to match the titanium colors, but it’s a strange move for a brand that’s known for such perfect cohesion. Certainly, it’s hard to imagine a Swiss watch brand getting away with putting a steel bracelet on a titanium case.
Upon further thought and after wearing the Milanese Loop around, there are a few possible reasons that came to mind. First, machining. If you’ve gotten a chance to play around with both bracelets, you’ll probably agree that the mesh is the softest and most delicate in any modern watch, and that the Link Bracelet has an admirable amount of engineering in it (and was very much ahead of its time with tool-less link adjustment). I would suspect that to achieve both in titanium, while keeping the price even remotely reasonable, would be very hard to do. In addition, titanium is a non-magnetic material, unlike stainless steel. This means that Apple would have had to do away with the infinitely adjustable magnetic clasp on mesh, and it’s hard to imagine a suitably elegant solution for a wide range of wrists.
The new water depth sensor on the Series 10 is suitable for snorkeling.
While a whole slurry of software features arrived as a part of WatchOS 11, the Series 10 sports a few exclusive hardware improvements, including faster charging and water depth/temperature sensors. One of the biggest additions in the health sector this year is sleep apnea detection, though it will also be available on some older models. While sleep apnea detection requires 30 days of breathing disturbance data (the new metric that uses the built-in accelerometer to detect interruptions in breathing patterns), I’ve already been able to see my breathing disturbance data populate in my iPhone’s Health app.
The new feature that I’ve found useful every single day I’ve worn the Series 10 is the ability to play audio directly from the watch’s speaker. While it doesn’t seem like much, I loved that I could just put on a podcast while I was cooking or folding laundry, with my phone away from me. It’s a great touch that continues to add more use cases for the Apple Watch every day.
Apple Watch Ultra 2, Now In Black
The Apple Watch Ultra 2, now in a DLC-coated black finish.
The final watch that I’ve been able to handle over the past week is the “new” Ultra 2. The Ultra 2 didn’t see any internal updates this year, but rather a new black finish through a DLC-coating process. If you need a refresher on DLC vs. PVD, be sure to read my in-depth on these two terms. The new finish comes off in person as a very matte dark grey, still maintaining the texture of the titanium underneath.
Apple also introduced a titanium Milanese mesh bracelet for the Ultra 2 this year, and its more rugged design features a twin-trigger, parachute-style buckle. The bracelet, like its more delicate steel cousin, is also very impressively manufactured and manages to feel very smooth on the wrist despite its significantly more rugged stance. It’s quite surprising that we haven’t seen this color from the Ultra already, since DLC is no stranger to Apple. But as far as non-update updates go, this one is very nice and will probably attract many folks who were on the fence about the Ultra 2. My few days with the Ultra 2 were my first days ever wearing an Ultra. I had always thought the 49mm case would be absolutely unwearable on my smaller wrist, but I think my mind has been changed. Sure, it’s very much a large case. But it’s been great to wear both traveling and around the city, and I am now genuinely considering adding one to my collection.
Some Concluding Thoughts
While many people were expecting the Apple Watch to receive a radically different form factor this year to celebrate its tenth anniversary, that wasn’t quite the case. Instead, we saw a more iterative series of changes. Don’t get me wrong – these changes do make the watch feel noticeably different from the previous generations, but in my opinion, they signify something even larger – market maturity. A few years ago, the Apple Watch became the world’s best-selling watch, to the chagrin of many reading sites like this. Ten years down the road from the Series 0, that leads to the ultimate question: is the Apple Watch a watch?
I think you can jump to some conclusions based on us having covered the Apple Watch for 10 years, but if you ask me, it’s an unequivocal yes. A lot of the criticism I’ve seen on watch enthusiast sites is people calling the Apple Watch a cold digital object that has nothing to do with watchmaking whatsoever. However, back in 2014, the Apple Watch was the first smartwatch that seemed to really take inspiration from the history of mechanical watchmaking, but re-imagined for the 21st century.
From notification sounds inspired by the chimes on a minute repeater to a sapphire crystal and “Digital Crown” that took elements straight from a watch and translated them onto a digital device, it has always felt like the Apple Watch has paid tribute to the mechanical watch. This year, with things like the new guilloché-inspired Reflections face and an always-on display that refreshes once per second, Apple seems to show that the improvements they’re trying to bring to newer generations of Apple Watch are not just purely technology for technology’s sake – but also aesthetic and functional decisions taken from real-world watchmaking.
I’m not claiming that the Apple Watch should be exalted in its craftsmanship in the same way that a Dufour Simplicity should. But, if we can get nerdy about a Seiko TV watch from the ’80s, why can’t we get nerdy about this? At the very base definition, debated every year, I think we can safely say that it’s a watch. Apple seems to think so as well. One of the phrases that stuck with me during the keynote this year was when Apple COO Jeff Williams recapped the Series 10, saying that the design was “truly a milestone of watchmaking.” Not a milestone of technology or a milestone of engineering. A milestone of watchmaking. I think it’s a clear positioning of how the product team approaches the Apple Watch in the context of watches at large, whether or not you agree with them.
At the same time, it’s been my (and many others’) long-held opinion that the Apple Watch has done wonders to get people, especially younger generations, back to wearing something on their wrists. Since Ben Clymer’s coverage of the first Apple Watch, we’ve seen more and more people discover Hodinkee through our stories of these releases from the lens of a luxury watch publication, and as a result, fall into the wonderful world of mechanical watchmaking that we all love. It’s not a zero-sum game; in fact, I believe it’s quite the opposite.
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