Apple Watch Ultra 3 Teardown Confirms 6 Mohs Case Hardness
If there’s a new Apple product, then the iFixit channel will sooner or later perform a teardown on it. They’ve just posted one for the new AirTag 2 and one for the Apple Watch Ultra 3. I’m going to focus on the Watch here, but a quick point of interest is that the AirTag 2’s speaker was easily disabled, countering one of Apple’s safety claims.
Some other product teardowns are fascinating, but Apple’s tend to be less interesting as there are fewer internal modules to dissect and decipher.
What iFixIt Found
iFixit first had a warning not to undo the screws on the rear as they, bizarrely, do not grant you access to the insides. You need to remove the lens to see what lies within, and iFixit recommends you not do this yourself as the repair is difficult (4/10 on their scale).
The 2.313 Wh battery was readily discoverable and its capacity represented a 6% increase over the Ultra 2 (2.178 Wh), confirming that the Watch Ultra 3’s better battery life (14 hours GPS time vs. 12 hours) comes from a combination of a bigger battery and energy savings.
I was moderately intrigued by the tests on the hardness of the case (mostly because I’m looking at lens hardness in a separate research strand).
Apple Watch Ultra 3 Case Hardness – Fun Facts
- Both Ultra 3 and Ultra 2 have an anodised case (more correctly Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) with PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition)) rated at 6 on the Mohs scale, higher than the original Ultra at 5 Mohs.
- The Ultra 3 case is 3D printed using a technique with titanium powder that requires less material than previously.
- Unsurprisingly, scratches are more visible on the frame edges than on the flat surfaces.
Here we go, have a look. Thanks for reading
https://youtu.be/TR9rPYlFTDE
Last Updated on 5 February 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
