Apple Unveils Apple Watch Ultra 4 Featuring $799 Base Price, Expanded Battery Life, and New S11 Chip

At its "Surprise and Shine" media event on Wednesday, Apple Inc. unveiled the Apple Watch Ultra 4, the latest iteration of its high-end rugged smartwatch line. The new wearable debuted alongside a broader hardware lineup that included the flagship Apple Watch Series 12, updated AirPods, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, and the tech giant's first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo.

Maintaining the $799 entry price of its predecessor, the Apple Watch Ultra 4 retains the same physical exterior design as the Ultra 3 while introducing architectural upgrades under the hood. Preorders for the device opened immediately following the keynote, with official store availability scheduled to begin on Friday, Sept. 18.

As first reported by Mashable Tech, Apple is positioning the device as its most complete health and fitness wearable to date. Central to the device is a refreshed Health Sensing System designed to capture more precise, continuous heart rate metrics. The updated system incorporates expanded heart rate variability (HRV) tracking to evaluate cardiovascular strain and recovery levels, allowing users to compare daytime metrics directly against night-time readings. Additionally, the system introduces a new Readiness fitness score that evaluates past workout history to advise wearers on their physical preparedness for upcoming activity.

The smartwatch is powered by Apple's new S11 silicon, which enables a suite of software tools grouped under "Audio Intelligence" slated to launch later this year. Among these capabilities is Live Rewind, a feature capable of generating transcripts for the preceding 15 seconds of spoken dialogue, alongside Siri Recap conversation summaries and customizable Sound Recognition alerts designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing users. On the security front, Apple stated that Audio Intelligence functions operate without generating or storing audio recordings, processing raw audio in isolation before immediate deletion to prevent access by third parties, onboard applications, or users themselves.

The Ultra 4 will also sync with a redesigned iPhone Health app set to release later in the year. The updated application will feature a dedicated Longevity section that uses vision-based artificial intelligence models to evaluate user movements, providing feedback on mobility metrics such as balance and joint flexibility. Apple confirmed that the Health Sensing System, the upgraded Health app integration, and the S11-powered Audio Intelligence features will also extend to the standard Apple Watch Series 12.

Battery performance on the Ultra 4 has been expanded to support up to 50 hours of standard operation on a single charge, marking an increase from the 42-hour battery life of the Ultra 3. In low power mode, battery longevity reaches up to 84 hours. Fast-charging hardware has also been improved, with Apple indicating that a 15-minute charge supplies approximately 18 hours of typical operation.

The Apple Watch Ultra 4 will be available in black titanium and natural titanium enclosures, matching the color palette of the prior model, alongside newly refreshed shade options for the Alpine Loop, Trail Loop, and Ocean Band. Apple is also offering a luxury Apple Watch Hermès Ultra 4 starting at $1,499, with a premium edition featuring a new extendable Grand H titanium band priced at $3,149.