Apple Watch Ultra 4: Price, Release Date, Battery, and Everything You Need to Know

• $799, one 49mm size. Grade 5 titanium in Natural or Black, 5G and LTE built in.
• Battery rated at 50 hours, or 84 hours in Low Power Mode, per Apple.
• 3000 nit sapphire display, the brightest Apple has put on a watch.
• New Health Sensing System reads heart rate every 5 seconds and scores your Readiness each morning.
• 100 m water rating, scuba to 40 m, dual-frequency GPS, and satellite messaging.

The Ultra 4 has one price. There is no GPS-only model and no second case size, so your only choices are the titanium finish and the band in the box. Cellular is standard.

• Tuesday, Sept 9: Announced at Apple's Surprise and Shine event. Pre-orders opened the same day.
• Monday, Sept 14: watchOS 27 ships with Audio Intelligence and the new Siri.
• Friday, Sept 18: Ultra 4 reaches stores and first pre-orders deliver.
• Same day: New Trail Loop, Alpine Loop, Ocean Band, and Hermes Grand H bands ship with the watch.
• Later in 2026: Siri Recap beta and the redesigned Health app roll out, US English first.

Popular finish and band combinations usually sell through their first allocation fast. Order early if you want it on launch day.

The Ultra 4 keeps the 49mm case that defines the line. Apple 3D-prints it from 100% recycled grade 5 titanium and says the watch is 45% recycled overall. Two finishes: Natural and Black. No gold or silver this year.

• 49 x 44 x 12 mm case, 63 g on the wrist.
• Sapphire crystal front, the same material as the titanium and ceramic Series 12.
• Fits wrists from 130 to 210 mm, per Apple.
• Every 49mm Ultra band fits, from Ultra 1 through Ultra 3.
• IP6X dust and 100 m water resistance.

Apple lists an Always-On Retina display with wide-angle OLED, an LTPO3 backplane, and a sapphire crystal. Peak brightness is 3000 nits, 50% higher than the 2000 nits on the Series 12. The floor is 1 nit for tents and dark bedrooms.

• 422 x 514 pixels at 326 ppi.
• Wide-angle OLED stays readable when you glance mid-stride.
• LTPO3 lets the refresh rate drop in always-on mode to protect the battery.
• Sapphire is standard, not an upgrade.

The S11 is a 64-bit dual-core chip with a 4-core Neural Engine and 64GB of storage. It is the same silicon as the Series 12, so performance is identical. The Neural Engine earns its keep with Audio Intelligence, a set of watchOS 27 features built on the microphones.

• Live Rewind shows a transcript of the previous 15 seconds.
• Sound Recognition alerts you to sirens, alarms, doorbells, and a crying baby.
• Siri Recap summarizes what was just said. Beta later in 2026, English first.
• Shazam is built in.
• New Siri powered by Apple Intelligence.

The biggest hardware change is on the back. Apple's new Health Sensing System pairs a third-generation electrical heart sensor with a larger electrode surface, photodiodes arranged in a ring, and larger green LEDs. The result is sampling frequency.

• Heart rate every 5 seconds all day, about 60 times more often per Apple.
• HRV about every 5 minutes, up to 24 times more often.
• Readiness score each morning: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It.
• Carryover sensors: blood oxygen, temperature, ECG, compass, altimeter, depth gauge.
• Redesigned Health app with Insights, Longevity, and Health Age arrives later in 2026.

Battery is the reason to buy an Ultra. Apple's ratings more than double the Series 12 in every mode, enough for two full days with sleep tracking both nights, or a weekend on Low Power Mode.

• 15 minutes on the charger adds up to 18 hours, per Apple.
• 80% in about 45 minutes, slower than the Series 12 at 30 minutes because the cell is bigger.
• Extended Workout stretches GPS tracking to 25 hours, or 45 hours in max low-power workout.

This is where the Ultra separates from the Series 12. Water resistance is 100 m with recreational scuba to 40 m under EN 13319. The Series 12 stops at 50 m and is built for swimming, not diving.

• Precision dual-frequency GPS holds a track in canyons, cities, and under tree cover.
• Series 12 uses single-band L1, a real hardware gap.
• 5G and LTE are standard on every Ultra 4.
• Emergency SOS via satellite reaches help with no cell signal.
• Messages via satellite lets you text from a ridge line or open water.

Apple launched fresh band colors alongside the watch, all in 49mm. Because the connector is unchanged, every Ultra 1, 2, and 3 band and every third-party 49mm strap still fits.

• Bands: best apple watch ultra 4 bands covers third-party Trail, Alpine, and Ocean alternatives.
• Cases, screen protectors, and mounts: best apple watch ultra 4 accessories
• Chargers: best apple watch chargers lists pucks that hit Apple's full fast charge rate.

• Buy it if you sleep track and hate nightly charging.
• Buy it if you run trails, dive, or spend time off grid.
• Skip it if you have a smaller wrist or want a lighter watch.
• Skip it if you would rather spend $699 or $899 on a titanium or ceramic finish.