Apple Watch Ultra 4 Launches Globally, Now Priced in PH

Apple has officially introduced the Apple Watch Ultra 4 as its latest sports and adventure smartwatch, bringing a new Health Sensing System, the S11 chip, longer battery life, and more accurate GPS.

Apple Watch Ultra 4 is designed for athletes and outdoor users, with up to 50 hours of everyday battery life, up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode, and up to 45 hours of outdoor workout tracking.

Why it matters: Apple is giving the Ultra lineup significant upgrades in health monitoring and endurance. The new Health Sensing System provides more frequent heart rate and HRV measurements, while the S11 chip enables the new Readiness feature and additional accessibility functions.

The details: Apple Watch Ultra 4 features new optical and electrical heart sensors that enable continuous health monitoring. Its optical sensor now measures heart rate every five seconds throughout the day.

HRV is also measured up to 24 times more often. Users can view Recovery HRV and Overall HRV separately, while overnight and daytime vitals provide additional information based on personal measurements.

A new Readiness feature analyzes recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep score to provide a daily 0-10 score. It then recommends whether users should Recover, Pace Yourself, are Ready, or should Go For It.

The score can change throughout the day as new data becomes available, including after an intense workout or changes in daytime vitals.

Apple Watch Ultra 4 offers up to 50 hours of battery life for everyday use and up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode. For outdoor workouts, Extended Workout mode provides up to 25 hours of tracking with full GPS and heart rate readings. Max Extended Workout mode pushes this to 45 hours for outdoor runs, walks, and hikes while maintaining GPS readings every second.

Charging is also faster, with 15 minutes providing up to 18 hours of additional battery life.

Apple Watch Ultra 4 also features what Apple calls the most accurate on-device GPS in a sports watch. Apple has redesigned the pedometer model with new machine learning algorithms and the S11 chip for more accurate distance measurements and step counts. The watch also gets a new Steps complication for real-time step tracking directly from the watch face.

The S11 chip enables Sound Recognition, which can alert deaf or hard of hearing users when important sounds such as sirens, alarms, doorbells, or a crying baby are detected. Shazam is also available directly on the watch, allowing users to identify music and see the song and artist through the Music Recognition widget.

Apple says these features process audio through the S11 chip’s Secure Exclave. Audio recordings are not created or stored, with raw audio processed in an isolated hardware environment and immediately deleted.

Apple Watch Ultra 4 runs watchOS 27, which adds Sleep Apnea Notifications in the Philippines, a dynamic app grid, new single-handed tap controls, Smart Stack widget suggestions, and support for perimenopause and menopause tracking.

Workout Buddy is also supported on Apple Watch when the user’s iPhone isn’t nearby.

Apple Watch Ultra 4 comes in natural titanium and black titanium finishes. The new Trail Loop is available in dark umber, sand, and burgundy, while the Alpine Loop comes in desert, dark olive, and burgundy. The Ocean Band now uses translucent silicone and comes in translucent gray, translucent kelp, and translucent black.

Apple Watch Ultra 4 specifications:

For Filipinos: Sleep Apnea Notifications are now available in the Philippines on Apple Watch Ultra 4. The feature analyzes breathing disturbance data every 30 days and can notify users when consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea are detected.

Pricing and availability: Apple Watch Ultra 4 is coming soon to the Philippines, starting at PHP 59,990.

What’s next: Apple Watch Ultra 4 pushes the Ultra lineup further toward endurance sports and adventure use, combining longer battery life and extended workout tracking with more frequent health measurements, improved GPS, and the new Readiness feature.