.jpg
)
The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 were announced during Apple's "Wonderlust" event on September 12, 2023. Both of these Apple Watch models have the new Apple S9 system-in-package utilizing the energy-efficient Sawtooth cores from the A16 Bionic with a faster GPU and a four-core Neural Engine, improved power efficiency, and a second-generation Ultrawide Band chip (shared with iPhone 15) with improved precision and a farther range. Their displays have a higher maximum brightness than their predecessors. Both Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 ship with watchOS 10; they support on-device Siri and a new "double tap" gesture using the index finger and thumb.
Prior to the announcement of the watchOS 26 at Apple's WWDC 2025, a new feature "wrist flick" gesture (using the wrist to quickly turn over and back to dismiss the incoming notification) will be available on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 alongside the Apple Watch Series 10.
Aluminum case models are available in Midnight, Pink, Starlight, Silver, and Product Red color options, while the stainless steel models are available in gold, silver, and graphite finishes.
For legal reasons, blood oxygen monitoring was not available on Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models sold in the United States after January 18, 2024.
Following a ruling by the International Trade Commission on a lawsuit regarding the blood oxygen monitoring feature, Apple temporarily stopped selling Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 on December 21, 2023, ahead of an import ban going into effect December 26, 2023. At the time, 9to5Mac reported, "Apple says that the ITC’s ban only impacts sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 because those devices offer blood oxygen monitoring capabilities." A US Federal Appeals Court paused the import ban pending a US Customs and Border Protection ruling on whether Apple's changes would be enough to avoid the patent dispute, and Apple resumed sales on December 27, 2023.
On August 14, 2025, Apple reintroduced blood oxygen monitoring for affected Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 Apple Watches with the iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1 software updates. To circumvent patent disputes, the redesigned app no longer analyzes blood oxygen data through the on-device app. Raw data is collected by the Apple Watch, then "measured and calculated on the paired iPhone."
Carbon neutrality claims
Apple markets the Series 9 and Ultra 2 as its first-ever carbon-neutral products (depending on the selected case material and band) due to a combination of cutting the carbon dioxide emissions per watch manufactured and sold (Apple claims a reduction of 78% for the Series 9 and 81% for the Ultra 2) and the company's purchases of forestry and nature-based carbon offsets and credits—which some criticized for being misleading due to reliability issues in carbon accounting for forestry carbon offsets.
Most of Apple's claimed emissions reductions were driven by renewable energy requirements imposed on suppliers; other factors include increased use of recycled materials, and a lower reliance on shipping products by plane, which is highly carbon-intensive. Apple says the watches' manufacturing relies on "100% clean electricity", though this partly relies on Apple investing in clean-energy projects to offset suppliers' use of electricity produced from fossil fuels. NewClimate Institute, a non-profit, said Apple's "100 per cent clean energy" claim was "highly contentious, since Apple’s major suppliers continue to have very low renewable electricity shares".
The carbon offsets used by Apple follow standards set by Verra, the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance, and the Forest Stewardship Council. However, some investigative reporting has indicated that 94% of Verra's rainforest carbon offsets were allegedly "worthless" and that the standard may worsen global warming. Niklas Kaskeala, chair of the non-profit Compensate Foundation, said Apple's tree-planting offsets had "systemic flaws"; the Financial Times found that in one Apple conservation scheme, newly planted trees were chopped down within a decade, releasing absorbed carbon back into the atmosphere, that most of the planted trees were eucalyptus, posing monoculture concerns, and that only 1% of the land was dedicated to regrowing native tree species.
On September 20, 2023, the European Union announced that it would ban most uses of the term "carbon neutral" in advertising by 2026, including claims that are based on carbon offsets, to address greenwashing and misleading advertising. This decision was praised by Monique Goyens, director-general of EU consumer group BEUC, who also called Apple's claims "bogus" and scientifically inaccurate. Gilles Dufrasne, policy officer at non-profit Carbon Market Watch, said it was "misleading to consumers" for Apple to give "the impression that buying the Watch has no impact on the climate at all", based on what he described as "accounting tricks". Other environmental groups criticized Apple's emphasis on carbon emissions without accounting for e-waste, due to the difficulty of repairing these products. Berkeley Carbon Trading Project director Barbara Haya praised the products' ~80% emissions reduction, but also criticized Apple's use of the term "carbon neutral" in advertising.