Full specifications, features and battery life for the Apple Watch Ultra 3, the brand’s rugged multisport flagship.
| Manufacturer | Apple |
| Type | GPS multisport smartwatch |
| Series | Watch Ultra |
| Released | 2025 |
| Price at launch | $799 / £799 / €899 |
| Predecessor | Apple Watch Ultra 2 |
| Successor | — |
| Case size | 49mm |
| Thickness | 14.4mm |
| Weight | 61.8g (black), 61.6g (natural) |
Specifications and features as at launch. Requires iPhone 11 or newer.
Expert opinion | What’s new | Specifications | Battery life | Features | Further reading
Expert opinion
GPS accuracy scored 90% on tfk’s standard 10-mile test, 87% using raw, unsmoothed data pulled via a third-party app, putting it narrowly behind the best dual-frequency watches tested, including the Coros Pace 3 and Garmin Forerunner 970 at 92% each. Heart rate accuracy was generally reasonable during sustained effort, though the watch records blanks rather than estimating when signal quality drops, which produces visibly patchy HR tracks around dropouts. Sleep tracking was the closest of three devices tested to an Eight Sleep Pod reference over 25 nights, with an average error of around 14 minutes across sleep stages and score, ahead of a Google Pixel Watch 4 tested over the same period. The watch has no ANT+ support and cannot natively broadcast heart rate to gym equipment, though a third-party app provides a workaround. Battery life covers marathon distance and Half Ironman comfortably, needs Low Power Mode for a full Ironman, and multi-day ultra-endurance events remain outside its practical range.
What’s new versus Ultra 2
- 5G cellular connectivity, up from 4G LTE
- Satellite Emergency SOS, two-way messaging via Globalstar satellites when off-grid
- 80% charge in 45 minutes, down from 60 minutes
- Battery life claim rises to 42 hours, from 36 hours
- Display bezels 24% thinner, with usable screen area up from 1,185 to 1,245 sq mm
- 3D-printed titanium case, using 50% less material for the same durability
- LTPO3 wide-angle OLED display, improving off-axis viewing
- Always-on seconds hand ticking, versus a 1-minute refresh previously
- S10 SiP processor, up from S9
Most other new features in watchOS 26 (hypertension notifications, consolidated Sleep Score, Workout Buddy, redesigned Workout app) are software updates shared with Ultra 2 and Series 11, not hardware exclusives.
Specifications
| Display | |
|---|---|
| Type | LTPO3 OLED, always-on |
| Area | 1,245 sq mm |
| Resolution | 422 x 514px |
| Brightness | 3,000 nits max, 1 nit min |
| Physical | |
| Case size | 49mm |
| Width | 44mm |
| Thickness | 14.4mm |
| Weight | 61.8g (black), 61.6g (natural) |
| Materials | 3D-printed aerospace-grade titanium, sapphire crystal |
| Water resistance | 100m (ISO 22810:2010); EN13319 dive certified to 40m |
| Processor | S10 SiP |
| Sensors and positioning | |
| GNSS | Dual-frequency L1+L5: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou |
| Heart rate | Optical (3rd gen) plus electrical (ECG) |
| Altimeter | Barometric, always-on |
| Compass | Magnetic, with gyroscope fusion |
| Other | SpO2, skin temperature, water depth (40m), water temperature, accelerometer, gyroscope |
| Connectivity and battery | |
| Cellular | 5G RedCap and 4G LTE |
| Satellite | Globalstar, Emergency SOS and two-way messaging |
| Wireless | WiFi 4, Bluetooth 5.3, UWB, NFC. No ANT+. |
| Battery, smartwatch mode | Up to 42 hours |
| Battery, continuous GPS workout | Up to 14 hours |
| Battery, Low Power Mode | Up to 72 hours smartwatch; roughly 35 hours for an outdoor workout with reduced GPS/HR sampling |
| Fast charging | 80% in about 45 minutes; 0 to 100% in about 75 minutes; 15 minutes gives roughly 12 hours of typical use |
Battery life
Apple claims up to 42 hours in smartwatch mode and up to 14 hours of continuous GPS workout recording, with a 72-hour Low Power smartwatch mode and roughly 35 hours for a Low Power outdoor workout. In testing, a typical day of 4G connectivity, 1 to 2 hours of exercise and overnight sleep tracking left the watch usable for a full 24 hours with 30 to 40% remaining. Apple rates the battery for around 1,000 charge cycles before capacity falls to 80%, roughly 2.75 years on daily charging; replacement costs $99 through Apple.
Features
Full feature detail is covered on the Apple Watch specifications index.
Satellite and safety
- Satellite Emergency SOS and two-way messaging, free for two years after activation, messages limited to around 160 characters, sent in 15 to 60 seconds with a clear view of sky
- 86dB siren, fall detection, crash detection, last-cellular-location marking
Sports omissions
- No ANT+ protocol
- No native heart rate broadcast to gym equipment (third-party app workaround exists)
- No FTMS smart trainer control
- No Polar GymLink support
- No GPX route or map contour support on the native Workout app (third-party apps fill this gap)
Triathlon
- Manual and automatic transitions, custom multisport profiles for triathlon, duathlon and brick workouts
- Per-leg metrics and total event time
- 14-hour continuous GPS limit makes a full Ironman dependent on Low Power Mode
