Welcome
So , is the Apple Watch Ultra a fully formed dive computer , or a costly gimmick ? Trick or treat , as it were . On one hand , we have an industry leading innovator dipping its toes in the diving world . Apple ’ s involvement could inspire technological breakthroughs , in addition to encouraging more young people into the sport . At the same time , the product will appease those Apple devotees for whom every launch is an obligatory splurge .
Looking at it from a more cynical stance , plenty of folk in the diving world are seeing it as the proverbial ‘ Trick ’, a world dominating corporation offering a product that appears to be limited in function , but not in pricing . It also heralds the dawn of a subscriptionbased dive app , which is necessary to turn the watch into a dive computer . A great many divers will be suspicious of paying a rolling subscription for access to their diving computer ; it could be another indicator that we are in Trick territory .
At the time of going to press , we had been promised an Apple Watch Ultra for handson testing , but it hadn ’ t arrived yet . So , to assess the established facts about the watch , I asked our equipment tester Neil Hope to speak with Apple and write a preview for Test Centre ; it serves as a compendium of what we know , rather than a full Test Centre review .
It ’ s getting harder to review computers and cameras , because perceived shortcomings can be addressed by firmware updates . All the same , I find myself harbouring a number of misgivings about this product . I am usually a confirmed devotee of Apple products ; I was one of the very first adopters of the iPod back in 2001 , when it provided the perfect solution for a scuba traveller who didn ’ t want to lug his CD library all over the world .
But the Apple Watch Ultra as dive computer ... for £ 849 , plus subscription ? We must reserve judgement until we can take a proper bite at the product . But for now , the overall package has not arrived with the disruptive innovation of early 2000s Apple .
Simon Rogerson – Editor simon @ scubamagazine . co . uk
Cover photo : Diver Simon Brown bearing pumpkins , photo by Simon Rogerson
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