Apple Watch Ultra
Apple has released watchOS 9.1, and it brings one of the most important features announced at the launch of the Apple Watch Ultra and Series 8.
This feature is the new low-power mode, which claims to increase battery life from 36 hours to 60 hours in the Apple Watch Ultra.
It does this by limiting both power consumption during everyday use, and when you actively track a workout session — making it much more intense than the low power mode the Watch Ultra had before WatchOS 9.1.
This new mode goes beyond switching off the Always-on display mode and limiting background processes, pulling way back on the stats displayed and recorded during a tracked run.
GPS location is only checked every two minutes, heart rate only once a minute. These stats are recorded up to every second in high-end fitness trackers.
Running power is disabled, as are the running technique metrics Apple introduced recently. You would not want to use this low-power mode to track 10km races, or even marathons, but it may be the perfect fit for hiking weekends.
DC Rainmaker has already had a chance to test the feature first-hand, and found the Apple Watch Ultra’s battery didn’t even lose s single percent of charge over an hour of tracking. According to Apple’s numbers it should be down somewhere between one and two percent.
The Apple Watch Ultra’s distance recording was significantly below that of DC Rainmaker’s benchmark devices, which makes sense when you consider the watch has to estimate routes in the two minutes between each GPS call.
Other changes in watchOS 9.1 include the ability to download Apple Music tracks when not on charge, and support for the Matter smart home standard.
