New Apple Watch is a dive computer

[Belzelbub]

You now have one number and one company to deal with what used to be many companies with different workflow, procedures, policies, people, etc. I truly have no complaints about their services.

Same here. I’ve had to contact Huish for service once. Can’t complain at all. When I called, my call was routed easily to a person that could help. I was kept informed throughout the process, and it was handled quickly.

 

[Rick Brant]

First dive with the Ultra today. Worked great although only as a depth indicator and dive timer. Old school! It is very nice having a phone with both text and voice capability as well as a GPS device that can track waypoints all in the same package. I did run into one user issue though. It seems like "Water Lock" mode locks all controls during the dive. I wanted to bring up the compass but could not see how to do that. Has anyone else figured out if that is possible?

 

[tridacna]

It is very nice having a phone with both text and voice capability as well as a GPS device that can track waypoints all in the same package.

Do you mean a “watch”?

 

[Rick Brant]

Yes the package is a watch, but it is also a phone and GPS device. It had not really occurred to me until I was in the water that if I wanted to, I could make a voice call from off-shore. Very handy for certain situations.

 

[astr0b0y]

First dive with the Ultra today. Worked great although only as a depth indicator and dive timer. Old school! It is very nice having a phone with both text and voice capability as well as a GPS device that can track waypoints all in the same package. I did run into one user issue though. It seems like "Water Lock" mode locks all controls during the dive. I wanted to bring up the compass but could not see how to do that. Has anyone else figured out if that is possible?

I couldn’t work out a way to get the compass working as well as depth meter either. The Oceanic+ marketing seems to indicate they will have access though.

 

[Ben_3]

Taako,

Before you thumbs down a factual post, you should conduct some research. Oceanic+ has 8 features behind a paywall, and several of the features "included" are limted such as a dive log that only holds 12 dives. There is no AI capability nor is there free diving mode. All free for all to read on Oceanic website. I do expect a free dive feature on a future release or another 3rd party app for that. View attachment 747338
View attachment 747338

I was just thinking that having a dive computer on a smartwatch would be sweet especially for vacation diving but the subscription prices seem steep for most divers...

 

[Thunder Struck]

I was just thinking that having a dive computer on a smartwatch would be sweet especially for vacation diving but the subscription prices seem steep for most divers...

I think in "most" divers are those who are certified and dive only while on vacation, that might do one or two trips a year and rent most of their gear. They spend 10 days in Hawaii, the Caribbean, or other warm water destination with maybe only half of those days diving. They are not necessarily active divers: those that are wet at least once a month, those that are planning their next dive outing while hanging at a safety stop, those who own their kit because renting it for each outing would be astronomically more expense then purchasing it outright, those who educate themselves on various aspects of diving where even if they don't participate in it, they want to at least having a passing conversational knowledge into the subject because they spend time socializing with other active divers.

For the vacationing/occasional diver the price of the app, at $10/month, is less expensive than purchasing most any low end dive computer for the amount of diving they do. They want to have a recorded log of their dive they can take with them, but their normal DC sits in the middle of the console of the rented regulator set they last used. They happen to have the Apple watch because it was the latest and greatest version of wearable tech available when they went to upgrade their existing digital watch. Perhaps they also looked at it from the standpoint of being able to use it as a DC on their next annual or semi-annual tropical vacation where they might make a few dives. They can easily rationalize financing the watch through their cell carrier and the $10/month for the DC functionality is less than they will spend for the $10/day for international access while they are on their vacation.

For active divers, the $80/year price tag is steep for what appears to be a very basic DC considering the longevity of a DC. My old Suunto Spyder from 1999 still (with regular battery changes) functions fine. Granted that device then was a fair bit more expensive than the simple DCs today, and if adjusted for inflation would probably be somewhere in the high end DC price range.

Hopefully they don't fall off their user's wrists as readily when in water as the previous Apple watches would. Although it looks like the dive band Apple sells is "only" $99 if you didn't opt for it during the initial purchase and now need something more secure. Fortunately it looks like the aftermarket has a $20 NATO style strap for those that can only drink so much Kool-Aid.

 

[Ben_3]

I think in "most" divers are those who are certified and dive only while on vacation, that might do one or two trips a year and rent most of their gear. They spend 10 days in Hawaii, the Caribbean, or other warm water destination with maybe only half of those days diving. They are not necessarily active divers: those that are wet at least once a month, those that are planning their next dive outing while hanging at a safety stop, those who own their kit because renting it for each outing would be astronomically more expense then purchasing it outright, those who educate themselves on various aspects of diving where even if they don't participate in it, they want to at least having a passing conversational knowledge into the subject because they spend time socializing with other active divers.

For the vacationing/occasional diver the price of the app, at $10/month, is less expensive than purchasing most any low end dive computer for the amount of diving they do. They want to have a recorded log of their dive they can take with them, but their normal DC sits in the middle of the console of the rented regulator set they last used. They happen to have the Apple watch because it was the latest and greatest version of wearable tech available when they went to upgrade their existing digital watch. Perhaps they also looked at it from the standpoint of being able to use it as a DC on their next annual or semi-annual tropical vacation where they might make a few dives. They can easily rationalize financing the watch through their cell carrier and the $10/month for the DC functionality is less than they will spend for the $10/day for international access while they are on their vacation.

For active divers, the $80/year price tag is steep for what appears to be a very basic DC considering the longevity of a DC. My old Suunto Spyder from 1999 still (with regular battery changes) functions fine. Granted that device then was a fair bit more expensive than the simple DCs today, and if adjusted for inflation would probably be somewhere in the high end DC price range.

Hopefully they don't fall off their user's wrists as readily when in water as the previous Apple watches would. Although it looks like the dive band Apple sells is "only" $99 if you didn't opt for it during the initial purchase and now need something more secure. Fortunately it looks like the aftermarket has a $20 NATO style strap for those that can only drink so much Kool-Aid.

Good points.

The ultra is also almost twice the price of the regular series I hope it wont slip off peoples wrists

 

[Marie13]

Good points.

The ultra is also almost twice the price of the regular series I hope it wont slip off peoples wrists

Different fastening on the strap, detailed in previous links.

 

[Tournesol2000]

@Thunder Struck you are missing several other groups of divers who would potentially benefit. It’s not one or the other from your breakdown.
My DM has one and loves it. This was during last shore dives in Ft Lauderdale a few weeks ago. So go figure.
I think we should stop analyzing what we don’t know and let the market speak for itself.