Apple

Apple Watch Ultra comes with a stock Depth app for underwater recreational activities like snorkeling and underwater pool swims, but most casual users probably won’t get to see how the Depth app responds during the more committed activity of open water free-diving.

For anyone curious, tech reviewer and YouTuber DC Rainmaker has posted a video in which he demonstrates the Depth app in action at deeper levels, using an underwater test chamber designed for diving equipment.

With the help of a computerized depth simulator, DC shows how the Depth app fluidly responds to greater water pressure as a diver descends, showing the Meters and Feet readouts accurately adjust on the display as the background water animation fluctuates in kind.

The Depth app is designed for underwater activities at a maximum depth of 130 feet (40 meters), but ‌Apple Watch Ultra‌ has a water-resistance rating of 100 meters (328 feet), making the watch capable of withstanding greater depth pressures than the Depth app is designed for.

With this in mind, DC’s test shows what happens in the Depth app when a diver descends below 130 feet: The screen turns bright yellow and reads “Beyond 130 FT,” and no longer provides a depth reading until the diver returns to shallower water.

The test also demonstrates the Dive app’s consolidated dive summary at the end of a dive session, letting users know the length of the dive, the water temperature range, and maximum depth. This data can be later found in the iOS Health app.

Apple warns that the Depth app is not a dive computer and it cannot provide decompression stop information or gas analysis. In situations where failure of the ‌‌Apple Watch Ultra‌‌ could lead to death or personal injury, Apple suggests using a secondary depth gauge and timer.

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For deeper ocean water diving, Apple has partnered with third-party outfit Huish Outdoors to develop Oceanic+, a Dive computer specifically designed for ‌‌Apple Watch Ultra‌‌ models. As a free app on the App Store , Oceanic+ will include depth tracking (including depth alarms), GPS tracking, logbook (up to 12 dives), snorkeling, and more.

For more advanced diving options such as No Decompression Limit, users will be required to purchase an Oceanic+ subscription plan ($4.99/day, $9.99/month, or $79/year). Oceanic+ will be available on the ‌‌App Store‌‌ later this fall.

(Thanks, Sonny!)

Apple Watch Ultra has been endorsed by American musician and famous watch collector John Mayer, who has been showing off the new device on his Instagram account .

“It’s loaded with capability and what I call ‘aspirational functionality.'” Mayer then calls out some of his favorite features, including GPS tracking, a depth gauge, a dive computer, a siren to attract help in emergencies, and Night Mode .

“This is a camping/hunting/outdoors adventure powerhouse,” he writes in a later post. “Not an #ad. I just like what I like.”

Grammy award winner Mayer is considered the watch world’s most influential collector, and is responsible for single-handedly spiking the value of individual watches he is spotted wearing in public, and of those he writes about in his column for horology website Hodinkee .

Mayer’s influence is unlikely to have the same effect on the Ultra, which is probably being sold in the millions, but as GQ notes, his endorsement alone “probably registered as a sizable earthquake in Geneva” and will be a “huge deal” for anyone with a passion for Swiss watches and statement timepieces.

Apple has courted the luxury wristwatch world ever since 2015 when it unveiled the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition, which cost upwards of $10,000 and was available in limited quantities.

Unfortunately for Apple, unit sales of the gold Apple Watch Edition were reportedly in the low tens of thousands and the line was discontinued in September 2016 after just 16 months. Humorously, the models are now stuck on watchOS 4 and below.

(Thanks, Richard!)