A Few Thoughts on the Apple Watch Ultra

I’ve been on a journey with the Apple Watch Ultra. When rumors of a “Pro” Apple Watch first began to surface, I was against the idea. I always appreciated the way you could buy any Apple Watch and still get the same features and processor. This new hypothetical watch would break that.

However, over time I came around to the idea. As Apple products mature, they diversify. In every class of Apple hardware (Macs, iPhones, and iPads) there are consumer products and “Pro” products. Why wouldn’t that also happen for the Apple Watch, which had a slow start but is now very much a success? A MacSparky Labs member also pointed out to me in one of our meetups that having a “Pro” class of Apple Watch also lets Apple try features and hardware that isn’t appropriate or ready for the standard Apple Watch.

So that was my mindset as Apple announced the Apple Watch Ultra yesterday. The Ultra accomplishes what I’d hoped. It gives Apple the freedom to make an Apple Watch very much not for the masses. The Ultra is bulky with a big battery and a lot of accommodations for its active users that would not appeal to everyone. So the Ultra is an offshoot of the Apple Watch, and it looks like it is well suited for that job. I’m looking forward to early reviews.

It does make me wonder, however, if Ultra is not the only class of offshoot Apple Watches. For example, I’ve heard from doctors that rely on the Apple Watch for communications and images when working rounds. Could Apple make a watch that serves them better? Likely not. Apple doesn’t generally seem inclined to split their product lines very much, as the iPhone mini could attest. Still, it’s a fun experiment to imagine where else they could go.

The Keynote Story

As we head into today’s Apple “Far Out” keynote, we’ve got a pretty good idea in terms of what we’ll see in the new iPhones and at least an inkling of what we’ll see with the new Apple Watch.

What we don’t know is the narrative. Apple does have a story around its products and how they see them fitting in for their users and along with the rest of the Apple product line in general.

For the iPhone, it is the modern utility belt in your pocket doing everything from communications to photography. For the Apple Watch, it’s increasingly becoming a health-focused product there to help keep you fit and (sometimes) alive.

With each new Apple keynote, I’m always interested to see how they look at whatever they’re introducing as part of that larger narrative. If you watch the event today, pay attention to the story.

Apple Watch Pro Rumors Multiply

As we’re now a few days away from Apple’s “Far Out” event, the circle of trust at Apple is expanding, and so are the leaks.

There is a leaked CAD design that may (or may not) be the new Apple Watch Pro. It’s notably different than what we’ve seen before with a bigger and flatter screen and an extra button. This design reads rugged more than finesse. Mark Gurman now tweets that the Apple Watch Pro will have a custom series of bands and faces.

If this is what Apple intends to ship, I have to question the “Pro” moniker. This looks to me something more like an “Extreme” or “Rugged” Apple Watch. Regardless, I’m looking forward to hearing the story behind the product on Wednesday.

Mac Power Users 656: The Fundamentals Are Timeless, with Stephen Millard

Automation wizard Stephen Millard joins David and Stephen on this episode of Mac Power Users to discuss Shortcuts, Alfred workflows, and a whole host of other automation tools across Apple’s platforms.

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Notch Evolution

The rumor mill is at it again. For some time now, it’s been apparent that the new iPhone Pro will be using cutouts instead of the notch found on previous iPhones. Leaks indicate it is something like a sideways lowercase “i”.

iPhone 14 Pro with lower case i notch.
Image from 9to5 Mac

It’s always looked a little funny to me, and I wondered what on earth they’d do with the very few pixels between the two notches.

Now we have an entirely new set of rumors that they’ll paint those pixels black, effectively connecting the two cutouts to make one long rounded rectangle. The only thing they’ll light in those pixels is the indicator lights for active audio and video recordings.

iPhone 14 Pro with single notch.
Image from 9to5 Mac

If true, this makes a lot of sense. I think it looks better this way, and the indicator lights right next to the camera lens hopefully make it more apparent what function they serve. (I suspect a lot of iPhone owners have no idea why those lights show up on their iPhones.) This is one more example of how rumors can lead Apple enthusiasts astray. So many people were upset about the two cutouts looking awkward and silly. Apple likely had the plan to connect them all along.

In terms of additional screen real estate, this new cutout doesn’t really give us much more than we had with the notch, but it does show progress and is one more step toward getting rid of notches and cutouts altogether.