Is the Apple Watch Series 9 secretly going to become the new Controller for the Vision Pro headset?

As Apple revealed the latest fleet of the Apple Watch collection, one feature stood out as the most remarkable as well as the most intriguing. The Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 both boasted of a new gesture input – being able to tap your fingers twice to register a button press. This would work remarkably well if your hands were occupied or dirty, letting you answer/end calls, snooze alarms, play/pause music, and even trigger your iPhone shutter simply by tapping your index finger and thumb together… without touching your Apple Watch at all. Sounds impressive, but also sounds extremely familiar, doesn’t it? Because tapping your fingers is exactly how the Apple Vision Pro registers click inputs too.

Designer: Apple

When Apple debuted the Vision Pro at WWDC in June, their biggest claim was that the Vision Pro was an entirely controller-free AR/VR headset, letting you manipulate virtual objects using just your hands. However, news emerged that Apple was, indeed, figuring out a traditional controller substitute that would be much more reliable than just human hands. It seems like the Apple Watch could be that perfect alternative.

The Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra Series 2 were unveiled this year, with a few standout upgrades. Both watches now come with 2000 Nits peak brightness, doubling last year’s capabilities. They both also rely on the new S9 SiP (the watch’s dedicated chipset) which now runs Siri locally on the device, without relying on the internet. The watches are also accompanied by new bands, including the FineWoven fabric that now replaces all leather accessories in Apple’s catalog… but more importantly, both the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra Series 2 accept the new finger-tapping gesture that does what the home button on both watches would do. The feature’s due to roll out next month as Apple calibrates how it works… but the implications of the feature go beyond just the watch. In fact, the Watch could be the secret controller the Vision Pro truly needs to enhance its Spatial Computing Experience.

Sure, the Vision Pro has multiple cameras that track your environment, also keeping an eye on your hands to see where you’re pointing, tapping, and pinching. The big caveat, however, is any situation where the Vision Pro CAN’T see your hands. If you’ve got your hands under a table, in your pocket, or behind your back, the Vision Pro potentially wouldn’t be able to recognize your fingers clicking away… and that’s a pretty massive drawback for the $3500 device. Potentially though, the Apple Watch helps solve that problem by being able to detect finger taps… although only on one hand.

The way the ‘Double Tap’ feature works on the watch is by relying on the S9 SiP. The chipset uses machine learning to interpret data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor to detect when you tap your fingers twice. The feature only works with the hand that’s wearing the Watch (you can’t tap your right-hand fingers while the Watch is on your left hand), but even that’s enough to solve the Vision Pro’s big problem. Moreover, the new Ultra Wide Band chip on the watch can help with spatial tracking, letting your Vision Pro when your hands are in sight and when they aren’t. While Apple hasn’t formally announced compatibility between the Watch and the Vision Pro, we can expect more details when Apple’s spatial-computing headset formally launches next year. The Vision Pro could get its own dedicated keynote event, or even be clubbed along with the new iPad/MacBook announcements that often happen at the beginning of the calendar year.

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Sandmarc’s gorgeous Titanium band for the Apple Watch Ultra is a design match made in heaven

It feels almost like destiny that Apple launches great products, but leaves the onus of designing great accessories to third parties. Sandmarc is one such company that’s benefitted greatly from this arrangement, rising to prominence for their pro-quality photography and videography accessories for the iPhone… but the company isn’t stopping there. After designing some of the best-in-class camera lenses and filming rigs for the iPhone, Sandmarc is giving the Watch Ultra something it truly deserves – a great complementary strap/band.

Not everyone who owns the Watch Ultra buys it because of its high-endurance sports and training features… so the idea of having a watch strap designed for trekking or deep-sea diving doesn’t really appeal to the average consumer who just wants to be able to flaunt their high-end smartwatch. In comes Sandmarc’s Apple Watch Ultra Band, an Oyster-style band made from grade-2 titanium with just the right color and finish to match the Watch Ultra perfectly. Slip the band on and it honestly looks like it was designed by Apple, and turns your extreme smartwatch into the luxurious-looking haute timepiece you need it to be! After all, who in their right state of mind would want to wear a silicone band into a boardroom meeting, am I right?!

Designer: Sandmarc

The luxurious Grade-2 titanium band quite literally turns your Apple Watch Ultra into a Rolex or Tag Heuer-style haute timepiece. Its finish matches the slight champagne color of the Watch Ultra perfectly, blending in so well you’d think Apple designed the band too.

The band’s wide body complements the Watch Ultra’s large-ish design perfectly too, doing a far better job of visually integrating with the timepiece than any of Apple’s own watches. After all, it isn’t purpose-built for function – it’s purpose-built for fashion.

Machined from grade-2 titanium with a scratch-resistant glass film coating, the watch band is lightweight, waterproof, and just as durable as the Watch Ultra. The entire band measures 190mm (7.48 inches) and weighs 2 ounces (57 grams), being nearly 40% lighter than its stainless steel counterparts. Each band relies on stainless steel connectors that allow you to attach it to the Watch Ultra, and the band also ships with an adjustment tool that lets you remove one of the Oyster-style links to fit your wrist perfectly.

The Sandmarc Grade 2 Titanium Watch Ultra Band starts at $199, which shouldn’t sound like much if you already splurged $799 on the smartwatch, to begin with. Each titanium band is also rigorously tested at a third-party lab for quality and chemical analysis, so the bands can endure everything the Apple Watch Ultra was designed for… whether it’s a lavish boardroom, the snowy tundras, a desert trek, or even the depths of the sea!

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Transform your Apple Watch 8 into an Apple Watch Ultra with this sneaky $13 snap-on cover

Easily the perfect Halloween costume for your Apple Watch 7 or 8, the PZOZ Converter Case gives your $399 smartwatch a facelift, allowing it to cosplay a $799 Apple Watch Ultra.

If you’re like me, you think the Apple Watch Ultra looks cool, but there’s no way on God’s bountiful earth that you’re spending 800 bucks on a watch. Luckily, this sneaky little lifehack has you sorted. Designed to snap right onto your existing Apple Watch, this cover case fools people into thinking you own a Watch Ultra. It looks remarkably close to the real deal, although the body is made from polycarbonate instead of titanium, your watch strap remains unchanged, and that Action Button on the side is clearly just a dummy button. Looks incredibly real though!

Designer: PZOZ

Click Here to Buy Now

On a scale of one to impressive-lifehack, the PZOZ Conversion Case rands remarkably high. Remember when Apple debuted the Dynamic Island and almost immediately, people began writing apps that turned hole-punch cameras on Android phones into dynamic islands?? The PZOZ Conversion Case is almost exactly like that. It’s incredibly sneaky, but you’ve got to admit it’s a remarkable idea. The Conversion Case easily snaps onto the Watch 7 or Watch 8, not only giving it a very expensive facelift, but also protecting it from accidental knocks, scratches, and scuffs.

Installing the case is simple enough for you to do it with the Apple Watch still on your wrist. Just peel the blue protective film off the case’s transparent front panel, and pop it onto the watch with a satisfying snap. The kit also comes with the Watch Ultra crown cap, which just sticks right onto your existing crown with adhesive. A pretty big trade-off with this is that you can’t use the EKG feature anymore, which requires you to rest your thumb or index finger on the watch’s original crown.

Once installed, you could choose to swap out the straps too, to complete the look, but for the most part, your conversion is absolutely complete. The cover case features a flat display panel just like on the Ultra, which still lets you use the Watch’s touchscreen (you may find it difficult to reach the edges of the display), and most of the other details line up perfectly, including the home button and even the microphone hole right between the button and crown. The speakers do get obscured a slight bit, so watch out for that.

The PZOZ Conversion Case works with the Apple Watch Series 7 and Series 8 (just the 45mm variant). It sits on just the top of your watch, keeping all the sensors below working just as usual. The home button and crown work as expected too (barring the EKG feature), and that Action button on the side doesn’t do much aside from being a fidget toy for your fingers.  Now if only someone created the Wayfinder watch face to complete this epic transformation!

Click Here to Buy Now

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Apple Watch Ultra case with transparent crystal design turns your smartwatch into a stunning jewel

Apple Watch Ultra? More like Ultra Luxurious…

Although designed purely for performance and ultrahuman conditions, I’d guess that there’s a very small portion of people that actually wear the Ultra watch for its ‘ultra’ features. Designed as the ultimate smartwatch from the Cupertino company, owning the Apple Watch Ultra is more of a flex than anything else… which is why you’ve got cases like these from Golden Concept. The RSTR case isn’t designed for an ultra-adventurous lifestyle. With a transparent crystalline design that’s made for showing off, the RSTR case turns the Apple Watch Ultra into a shimmering jewel on your wrist. Available in 4 gorgeous colors, the cases also sport a rather ‘ultra’ price tag of $799… and that’s without the watch itself.

Designer: Golden Concept

Boasting 50 meticulously engineered parts that come together with the same kind of precision you’d find in a mechanical watch, the RSTR case for the Apple Watch is seriously a work of art. The case itself is made from transparent nylon that’s designed to be robust enough to take on impacts without really showing any signs of damage. It doesn’t compare to the durability of the titanium Apple Watch Ultra underneath, but it does play its part in looking like a massive gemstone. The home and action buttons are made from stainless steel and are designed to be slightly larger, making them more accessible through the otherwise chonky case. In the Crystal Rose variant (shown at the bottom), the buttons come made from steel too, but are PVD plated with 18K Rose Gold.

The RSTR case gives the Apple Watch Ultra a bit of a visual overhaul, which may not sit well with Apple purists, but should appeal to a different luxury-focused demographic rather well. The entire watch sits enveloped by the transparent crystalline case, with the home and action buttons emerging from within, and a highly exaggerated crown that visually dominates the watch’s design, while also coming with grips that make it easy to grab and rotate.

The RSTR case sports its own bands too, crafted from Fluoroelastomer and coupled with a unique latching mechanism that allows the two straps to clip together. The band can be opened using a simple push-button mechanism on the outside, although it does feel like that could easily happen by accident.

The Apple Watch Ultra Case RSTR by Golden Concept is available in four colorways: Sapphire Green, Sunset Orange, Smokey Black, and Crystal Rose. The cases weigh more than the watch itself, at 96 grams (as compared to the Apple Watch Ultra’s 61.3 grams). They’re designed to be water-resistant and each colorway is limited to just 9999 units worldwide… Which goes to explain their hefty $799 price tag, although if you’re looking to buy a watch along with the case, Golden Concept sells the two together for an eye-watering $1999.

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The Apple Watch Ultra is a great smartwatch, but it’s also a brilliant marketing tool. Here’s why…

The Apple Watch Ultra is the tech equivalent of “Do you even lift, bro?”

With 8 years in development, Apple has firmly cemented the Watch’s reputation as a device that saves lives. The Apple Watch isn’t just a smartwatch, it’s also an incredible medical and safety device that’s helped people in emergencies. Every year, Tim Cook even spends a few minutes on covering real-life stories of how the Watch saved its wearer’s life. The Apple Watch Ultra, however, doesn’t share that reputation. It’s built for extremes, for the ultra-human, whether they’re scaling mountains, crossing deserts, diving in oceans, or just pushing their bodies to the limit in the pursuit of a goal. In Apple’s own words, the Watch Ultra is an “essential tool for essentially anything”… but here’s the part Apple didn’t say out loud. They know that regular people will want the Watch Ultra too, just for the ability to portray themselves as limit-pushing ultra-humans. It’s the watch equivalent of owning a Peloton, having a bike mount attached to your car’s rear, or just taking gym selfies. The Watch Ultra is an exceptional device, but it’s also a status symbol of sorts for people who want to be perceived as adrenaline junkies and adventure lovers.

The Ultra suffix tells you practically everything you need to know about what this new smartwatch was made for. Apple doesn’t envision this to be the watch someone wears to the office, or an elderly person wears it to monitor their heart levels. This watch was designed absolutely push the limits of what a watch can do and endure. The watch sports a rugged titanium design that’s more resilient in inclement weather, including snowstorms, and is rated WR-100 water resistant as well as EN13319 certified, which means you can use it as a dive computer during scuba diving sessions.

The watch’s new design was made for easy operation even when you’re wearing gloves. The crown is thicker, grippier, and the power button more accessible. There’s even a new Action button on the opposite side for controlling the watch’s various ‘ultra’ activity tracking features, whether you’re competing in a triathlon, deep-sea diving, or even marking your position on the watch’s own mapping system during a trek. It sports a redesigned home screen interface, called the Wayfinder, that gives you access to all the important features you need during your activities, including a compass, GPS coordinates, altitude, and other useful metrics. The watch’s battery can last for 36 hours, although Apple claims that future updates can push this to 60 hours, so your watch aides you on your long, difficult journeys whether you’re trekking, camping, long-distance jogging, or completing a triathlon. The watch even comes with a ‘night mode’ that’s accessible simply by rotating the crown, which turns the interface minimal and red, retaining visibility while conserving battery… and an internal 86-decibel siren lets you attract attention to yourself in the event of an emergency.

The watch comes with a rugged titanium alloy construction and sports three different strap styles, an Alpine Loop, Trail Loop, and Ocean Band. The Watch Ultra by default comes with GPS and Cellular, and sports all the other features of the Series 8, including a much more advanced temperature tracker and period tracker, crash detection, international emergency calling, fall detection, and an always-on display. With all those advanced features, the Watch Ultra doesn’t come cheap. At $799, it costs as much as the iPhone 14 (yes, the new one), making it the most expensive smartwatch money can currently buy. However, for people heavily invested in an active or extreme lifestyle, this one might just be a doozy.

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