Apple unveils Watch Series 9, Watch Ultra 2

The new Apple Watch Series 9 is the company's first-ever carbon-neutral device to date.

Apple on Tuesday (September 12) pulled the wraps off the new generation Watch Series along with the Watch Ultra 2 series.

The key aspect of the Watch Series 9 is that it is the company’s most eco-friendly device to date. 

All the aluminium cases used in regular models are said to 100 per cent recycled and even cobalt used in the battery is also 100 per cent repurposed. 

Apple Watch Series 9 aluminium case colour options

Add to that, emissions during the manufacturing were reduced from the three biggest sources of greenhouse gases — materials, electricity, and transportation. “The small amount of emissions remaining are offset with high-quality carbon credits from nature-based projects. Apple Watch packaging has been redesigned to be 100 percent fibre-based, and a new logo on the packaging indicates models that are carbon neutral,” Apple noted.

All the aluminum Apple Watch Series 9 with a new Sport Loop band is said to carbon neutral.

Apple's new eco-friendly Hermes FineWoven bands

In a conscious move, the company has decided to no longer use leather in any new Apple product, including watch bands.

Add to that, Apple is introducing FineWoven, a luxurious and durable microtwill made of 68 percent post-consumer recycled content that has significantly lower carbon emissions compared to leather. FineWoven has a suede-like feel, and is available with the Magnetic Link and Modern Buckle bands.

Apple Watch Series 9

The new Watch Series 9 boasts vibrant displays with up to 2000 nits peak brightness. Whereas the new Watch Ultra 2’s screen supports 3000 nits brightness— 50 percent brighter than the first generation model.

Apple Watch Ultra 2

Like the old model, the new Watch Ultra 2 is designed to work in extreme conditions, can sustain  500 meters below sea level and be able operate without issues up to 9,000 meters on top of a mountain.

Both the Watch Series 9 and the Watch Ultra 2 come with brand new S9 SoC (System-on-Chip).

Both the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra come with S9 silicon

It is touted to be biggest upgrade in a long time. It promises to deliver systemwide improvements and brand-new features, including a new double tap gesture (more on that later). It will also greatly enhance on-device Siri with the ability to access and log health data privately and securely. 

Key features of Apple Watch Ultra 2

S9 also comes paired with a new 4-core Neural Engine that can process machine learning tasks up to twice as fast, when compared with Apple Watch Series 8. The power efficiency of the S9 SiP allows Apple Watch Series 9 to maintain all-day 18-hour battery life.

And on the Watch Ultra 2, it promises to deliver 36 hours with normal usage

Previous Apple Watches came with tactile Digital Crown and  Taptic Engine and supported gestures such as tap, swipe, wrist raise, and cover to mute.

Key features of Apple Watch Series 9

Now, the new Watches support  double tap gesture. Users can tap the index finger and thumb of the watch hand together twice to quickly and seamlessly perform many of the most common actions.

With the double tap, he/she can control the primary button in an application . They can snooze an alarm in the morning, stop a timer during the workout exercise, and even play and pause music.

The double tap gesture can also be used to answer and end a phone call. Users can even to take a photo with the Camera Remote on Apple Watch. 

Double tap will also open the Smart Stack from the watch face, and another double tap will scroll through widgets in the stack.

“This new double tap gesture is enabled by the faster Neural Engine in Apple Watch Series 9, which processes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor with a new machine learning algorithm. The algorithm detects the unique signature of tiny wrist movements and changes in blood flow when the index finger and thumb perform a double tap,” Apple said.

Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 support double tap gesture

However, the double tap gesture will be available in a software update in October.

The new Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra come with new Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip to enable Precision Finding for the iPhone 15 family, which also come with the same chip.

And, UWB will further deepen the integration of Apple Watch with HomePod speakers. When an Apple Watch user gets within 4 meters of a HomePod playing audio, Apple Watch Series 9 will launch Now Playing to control the media. Or if nothing is playing on HomePod, media suggestions will appear at the top of the Smart Stack.

Apple Watch Series 9 stainless steel variants

Apple Watch Series 9 is available in 41mm and 45mm sizes in starlight, midnight, silver, (PRODUCT)RED, and a new pink aluminium case, as well as stainless steel in gold, silver, and graphite cases.

Apple Watch Series 9 price starts at Rs 41,900, and Apple Watch SE starts at Rs 29,900.

And, Apple Watch Ultra 2  which comes in single 49mm size costs Rs 89,900. 

All the devices are available for pre-order in India and they will be up for sale online and retail stores from next week from September 22 onwards.

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