Technologies

Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs. Apple Watch Ultra: How the Rugged Watches Compare

Apple’s second-generation Ultra gets a few updates over the original.

The $799 Apple Watch Ultra 2 debuted in September 2023 and continues to be the company’s leading rugged smartwatch. Since the Ultra 2’s debut, Apple has also unveiled the Apple Watch Series 10 as a more mainstream watch option. And while the Ultra 2 replaced the original Apple Watch Ultra, that model does continue to sell in Apple’s Certified Refurbished store at $589.

While the second-gen Ultra looks similar to the original, there are a number of improvements inside the iPhone-compatible smartwatch that are worth noting. The Ultra 2 has a 3,000-nit screen, which should be noticeably brighter than the original Ultra’s 2,000-nit display. The Ultra 2 also includes the new Double Tap gesture, which lets you activate certain controls by tapping your thumb and index finger together without touching the watch’s screen.

Read more: Best Apple Watch for 2025

Otherwise, this newer Ultra has many of the same features as the first. This includes a new Night mode that will be on a Wayfinder watch face, which uses an ambient light sensor to activate. Both watches also continue to have an estimated 36-hour battery life.

To highlight the differences between the original Apple Watch Ultra and the new Apple Watch Ultra 2, we’ve outlined each watch’s specs in the chart below.

Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs. Apple Watch Ultra

	Apple Watch Ultra 2	Apple Watch Ultra
Shape	Square	Square
Watch size	49mm	49mm
Materials, finishes	Titanium	Titanium
Display size, resolution	1.91-inch, 502×410-pixel OLED	1.91-inch, 502×410-pixel OLED
Dimensions	44x49x14.4 mm	49x44x14.4mm
Weight	61.4g	61.3g
Colors	Natural titanium	Natural titanium
Always On	Yes	Yes
Interchangable bands	Yes	Yes
GPS	Yes (L1 and L5)	Yes
Automatic workout detection	Yes	Yes
Compass	Yes	Yes
Altimeter	Yes (operating range: -500m to 9,000m)	Yes
Water resistance	10ATM (100 meters) and recreational scuba diving up to 40 meters	Yes, up to 100m
Calls	Yes	Yes
Microphone	Yes (3-mic array)	Yes
Speaker	Yes	Yes
Voice assistant	Yes (Siri, on-device)	Yes (Siri)
Mobile Payments	Yes (Apple Pay)	Yes (Apple Pay)
Sleep tracking	Yes	Yes
Period tracking	Yes	Yes
Sensors	SPo2 (blood oxygen), ECG, optical heart, ambient light, high dynamic range gyroscope, high-g accelerometer, water temperature, depth gauge + app	SPo2 (blood oxygen), ECG, optical heart, ambient light, high dynamic range gyroscope, high-g accelerometer, water temperature, depth gauge + app
Emergency features	International emergency calling, Emergency SOS, crash detection	International emergency calling, Emergency SOS, crash detection
Compatibility	iOS 17	iOS 16
Software	WatchOS 10	WatchOS 9
Processor	Apple S9	S8 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor
Connectivity	LTE and UMTS, Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.3	LTE and UMTS, Wi-FI
Memory and storage	64GB	64GB
Power	USB-C magnetic fast charging	USB-C magnetic fast charging
Battery life	Up to 36 hours; up to 72 hours (low power mode)	36-hour battery life, 18 hours on LTE
Battery capacity	Unavailable	Unavailable
Price (USD)	$799	$799
Price (GBP)	£799	£849
Price (AUD)	AU$1,399	AU$1,299

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #1008

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 15, No. 1,008

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough, but the yellow category has some fun options in it. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Mine, all mine!

Green group hint: A part you might use to build something.

Blue group hint: Blended words.

Purple group hint: Not a cow, but close.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Greedily control.

Green group: Toothed wheels.

Blue group: Portmanteaux.

Purple group: Bull ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is greedily control. The four answers are bogart, corner, hog and monopolize.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is toothed wheels. The four answers are cog, gear, pinion and sprocket.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is portmanteaux. The four answers are blog, motel, smog and spork.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is bull ____. The four answers are dog, doze, frog and horn.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #742

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 15, No. 742.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is fun and timely, relating to a certain big ceremony held this weekend. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Best of all

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: The envelope, please.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RATE, RATED, DATE, DOTE, DATED, DOTED, GATE, GATES, TROD, TRODS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: