The Ultra is aimed at a demographic most aren't in, me especially.

I don't dive. Barely swim in the condo swimming pool.
I'm not an endurance athlete. Best I do is 5km.
I'm not a mountaineer. Only take the stairs at work.

So naturally I'm ordering one.

I think there is 2 ways to look at it.

People can come from a Garmin smartwatch comparison perspective.
Or people can come from a perspective that it is an Apple Watch with Garmin like features and ruggedness.

I am in the second camp. It is an Apple Watch first and foremost.
And I'll probably get one additional band together with it as the new bands look pretty good even though it is another 400 bucks. One Trail band and one Alpine band for me.

Waiting for an available date to be announced for the AWU.
I'm upgrading from a Series 3 so I can definitely self justify the purchase. Thinking about not pre-ordering though, kinda want to feel it in my hands before making the purchase.

The orange fits the watch but I feel may be a little too bright for my day to day. It just screams for attention on my wrist.

I'm thinking of getting the green alpine loop and the trail velcro which is supposed to be super comfortable. For sports, I heard it is backward compatible with earlier straps do I'll use my existing sports band for my series 3.

I've been using the velcro sports loop which is fabric for 5 years. But I don't use it for sports due to it being fabric, I go with the sports band as it washes off easily. Velcro for day to day, no issues with sweat smell. Both the trail and alpine I think are fabric which are more comfortable options.

If you have an existing sports band, you can use it with the Ultra as I saw vids of people confirming those were compatible.

Which country?

I'm tempted to hop over the causeway and get one.

Talking about the bands, come help me decide.

I'm thinking of pairing the Ultra with an Apple steel link bracelet.
Only question is....silver or black.

Silver - https://i.imgur.com/qowFObe.jpeg
Black - https://daringfireball.net/misc/2022/09/ult...black-link.jpeg

That'll be RM 5k.
AWU and the Silver Link Bracelet.

But yeah, leaning towards the silver right now for that overall steel rugged look.

Sounds like the AWU ticks most of the boxes except extreme edge cases. Even that, may be bridged by the new low power mode rolling out soon.

The AWU is the closest one size fits all solution that I could find for me.

The way I see it, it is not purely performance or you would have gone with other alternatives like Garmin.

It is also the fact that this is an Apple Watch first. With iOS integration beyond what others offer, and it has that 'cool' factor being Apple. A product like the AWU is does NOT sell on price vs performance metrics. The best price/perf winner in the Apple space is the SE. Everything else sells on a premium because people want the highest end device available. Which is why I think the AWU will cannibalize some AW8 sales, but that is ok because it is part of Apple's upsell strategy.

This is what I had in mind too.
Can share a couple more angles?

Now there is a look that screams insecurity.

I think at the end of the day, it's a personal device so people should just do what makes them feel comfortable. I understand some may not feel secure if they don't add another layer for peace of mind.

Personally, I don't use caes or screen protectors on my current iPhone nor my watch as I think it takes away from the experience. No point having a device look pristine at the end of it's product life. Your mileage will vary.

I usually pass on my old device to someone else to use after I'm done with it too.
But one day, I realized that the person I gave it to got a pristine device while I had a subpar ownership experience because of the lengths I went through to keep the device that way. In a sense, I was going through the pain of looking after the device for the next owner down the line rather than enjoying it as the original owner.

So now I tell myself the device serves me rather than the next owner. I use all my devices without cases or screen protectors and am enjoying the ownership experience. Sure in a few years the device will have wear and tear when I pass it to the next person, that's the way I want it to be.

Back to the AWU, can't wait to get my hands on one. Even have the extra bands I want to buy for mixing & matching.
Alpine loop, trail loop, solo loop, silver link and the braided solo loop.

But...but....iPhone 14PM + AWU combo.
That's like 10k right there. Massive flex.

Bankrap takpe, gaya mesti ada.

One observation on that use case. Nobody here is Kipchoge.

Apparently me.
When la will it launch in MY, money is burning a hole in my pocket already....

9am. Gentlemen, start your engines.

No screen protectors and no cases for me.
The Ultra is built for it.