Overview

• The Ultra 3 is reviewed as Apple’s biggest and brightest watch yet with tougher build and improved stamina, though it remains bulky and still trails the multi‑week battery life of some Garmin devices.
• Two‑way satellite messaging and Emergency SOS via satellite are built into Ultra 3, with optional Find My location updates for off‑grid use.
• Apple Watch Series 11 uses the same S10 chip and case as Series 10, with the primary hardware change being roughly six more hours of battery life.
• watchOS 26 delivers Sleep Scores and FDA‑cleared Hypertension Detection to Series 9 and later and Ultra 2 and later, narrowing software‑driven differences between new and recent models.
• The one‑year‑old Series 10 is currently around $329 at retailers, which ZDNET argues makes it a better value for many shoppers than buying the newest models.