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 Dec. 26, #929

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Dec. 26 #929

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 full of fun pop-culture references. 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: Golden state cliches.

Green group hint: Funny films.

Blue group hint: Rock on.

Purple group hint: Not white.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: California-based character tropes.

Green group: Comedy subgenres.

Blue group: ’70s rock bands.

Purple group: Black ____.

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 California-based character tropes. The four answers are movie exec, surfer, tech bro and Valley Girl.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is comedy subgenres. The four answers are buddy, cringe, screwball and stoner.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is ’70s rock bands. The four answers are America, Chicago, Foreigner and Journey.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is black ____. The four answers are Forest, Friday, Panther and Widow.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Dec. 26 #663

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Dec. 26, No. 663.

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 a fun one, but you might struggle at first to see a connection between the words. 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.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Please hold.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Cats love these more than they love expensive toys.

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:

BOXING, CHEAT, HEAT, SMOCK, MOCK, LATE, TEAM, MEAT, TEAMS, LOOT, TOLE, BALL, BALE, KALE, TALL

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:

GIFT, SHOE, TOOL, LUNCH, MATCH, PIZZA, BALLOT, TACKLE (All are words that can be placed in front of «box.»)

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BOXINGDAY. To find it, start with the B that’s four letters down on the far-left row, and wind across and then down.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Dec. 25, #1650

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Dec. 25, No. 1,650.

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

Today’s Wordle puzzle has some tough-to-guess letters. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with P.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with M.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a geometric figure.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is PRISM.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Dec. 24, No. 1649, was SPOOL.

Recent Wordle answers

Dec. 20, No. 1645: WHITE

Dec. 21, No. 1646: QUILT

Dec. 22, No. 1647: CONCH

Dec. 23, No. 1648: GLINT

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q.

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

STARE

NOISE