Apple’s new Watch Series 9 will have the world double-tapping. Oh, and there’s a Watch Ultra 2 now

Remember that Wonderlust event we told you about? No? It doesn’t matter now since the bloody thing is here and it’s already already over. Apple’s kicked off the whole thing with the usual cutesy trailer that’s promoting… something or other. We’re not actually sure. Whatever the case, it’s all just a precursor for the real show – with Apple announcing its first new thing of the night – the Apple Watch Series 9.

The Apple Watch Series 9 is a go! Surprised?

One of the biggest changes to look forward to here is Apple’s new S9 SiP (System in Package), Apple’s most powerful yet (according to itself). It’s not being wasted either, since it’s being joined by the CPU’s 5.6 billion (yeah, with a b) transistors, a GPU that’s apparently 30% faster, and a four-core neural engine, because this is Apple we’re talking about. It probably couldn’t help itself. And of course, Apple’s gotta get in a few brownie points, which it’s doing by making the Apple Watch Series 9 the company’s first-ever carbon-neutral product.

Apple’s big thing this time around is improving Siri, a brighter (and dimmer) display, and real-time Where’s my iPhone? using the new ultra-wideband chip Apple’s thrown in.

Let’s start with those Siri improvements, shall we? All of those weird requests you make to Siri are now processed on the device directly. Just ask it to “start an outdoor walk workout” and it’ll do so without any hassles, and plenty quicker too. It’s also 25% more likely to understand what you’re saying thanks to that new S9 SiP. Siri’s also been upgraded to nurse, now being allowed access to user’s health data. It’ll let you know how well you slept, or check your heart rate. You just have to ask it nicely enough (and in English or Mandarin). 

As for that attractive Always-On display, Apple’s pushed the max brightness all the way up to 2,000 nits – which stops the sun from ruining your view. When you’re in the cinema (or anywhere dark, really), it can drop to as low as 1 nit.

If your handset ever gets lost, you can call the Watch Series 9 to find it. First, you can try pinging the nearby iPhone. If that doesn’t work, it’ll make use of that ultra-wideband chip mentioned earlier to provide a more detailed map of where your phone is, using visuals, haptic feedback, and audio cues to help you pinpoint your iPhone exactly.

Last but not least, we got a look at a few new gestures, the coolest of which is the new ‘double-tap” gesture that’ll sense your index and thumb fingers tapping together. That allows it to take control of the ‘OK’ button and do stuff like play and pause your music or answer a phone call. It’s clear that Apple is prepping its customer base for the Apple Vision Pro, which features a similar control scheme. The “double-tap” will appear in October as part of a software update.

That’s all joined by the Apple Watch Series 9’s all-day 18-hour battery life. You can expect to see the Apple Watch Series 9 hit shelves on 22 September in the US. As for South Africa… more on that later. Much later.

Apple Watch Ultra… 2!

You didn’t really think Apple would just leave it there, right? If you did, we hope you’re enjoying your first-ever Apple livestream. For the veterans, say hello to the Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple’s best Watch ever. Again. It may not look all that new, with Apple retaining much of the same design we saw at last year’s Far Out event. Still, a set of refreshed insides isn’t so bad, right?

Good, because that’s mostly all you’re getting. Like the Series 9 that came (right) before, the Apple Watch Ultra is powered by the same fancy new S9 SiP, the same 5.6 billion transistors, and the same four-core neural engine. It’s not all recycled content, though. The Ultra is rocking a U2 ultra wideband location chip that’ll offer the same on-device Siri processing and more detailed location info. This way, you’ll probably find what you’re looking for.

We won’t bore you with all those Siri details again. The Watch Ultra can do all that the Series can when it comes to Siri’s new abilities. Access to health data, yadda yadda. It’s even got the same “double-tap” gesture that we’re just itching to try out.

What is new is the Ultra’s upgraded Always-On display that’s capable of hitting 3,000 nits, the company’s brightest Watch display thus far. That 1-nit brightness we mentioned in the Series 9 update has been carried over here, too. It’s also rocking what Apple calls a “Modular Ultra Watch Face” that’ll relegate some of the, uh, less important stats you’re tracking to the face’s edges so as to not waste any screen space.

It’s not messing about with battery life, either. Apple is promising a solid 36 hours of battery life for a typical user. If you need to prolong that, kick it into low-power mode and you’ll go three days (or 72 hours) before needing access to a wall socket.

Most of the other noteworthy updates come as part of Apple’s Watch OS10 update, arriving on 18 September. Those include widgets, improved cycling features, new app icons (yay!), and better mapping.

Oh, and it’s all carbon-neutral. Rad.

It’s arriving on 22 September in the US, at a starting price of $800. South Africa, unfortunately, doesn’t yet have an official release date penciled in but you can expect it to match (or exceed) the current Ultra’s R20,000 price tag when it turns up.

The Apple Watch SE also made an appearance at the show, though with a much smaller role to play. Apple briefly mentioned a $250 starting price, with a refreshed set of specs including activity tracking, high and low heart rate notifications, Fall Detection, Emergency SOS, Crash Detection, and watchOS 10. Well, okay then. Let us know when it gets here.