Tag: 2022

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Apple Watch Ultra (2022)

The Apple Watch Ultra was announced on September 7, 2022, and was described as having a “revolutionary new design with breakthrough capabilities.” Apple highlighted the Apple Watch Ultra as:

“built for endurance, exploration, and adventure. Apple Watch Ultra introduces a 49mm titanium case and flat sapphire front crystal that reveals the biggest and brightest Apple Watch display yet. A customizable Action button offers instant access to a wide range of useful features. Apple Watch Ultra has the best battery life of any Apple Watch, reaching up to 36 hours during normal use.”

The Apple Watch Ultra website focused upon the ruggedness of the design and depicted users in “extreme sport” situations including running through a desert, climbing mountains, and scuba diving. To match these scenarios, the Apple Watch Ultra offered three new band designs, the Trail Loop, Alpine Loop, and Ocean Band. Apple described each new band:

  • Trail Loop. Comfort for the long run. Designed to be light, thin, and flexible. It features a fuss-free loop closure for quick adjustments during workouts. Extra stretch built into the webbing makes it easy to cinch for optimal fit.
  • Alpine Loop. Tough as trails. Light, durable, and made from two textile layers seamlessly woven into one continuous piece without stitching. The corrosion‑resistant titanium G‑hook slips smoothly into the reinforced loops for a secure fit.
  • Ocean Band. The sea is calling. Molded from fluoroelastomer rubber, it’s lightweight and flexible. It has a titanium buckle and a spring‑loaded titanium adjustable loop that secures through the tubes for a hypersecure fit, even during high‑speed water sports. An attachable band extension lets you wear it over a thick wet suit.

In addition to its rugged design, several features were exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra. The Apple Watch Ultra had apps for scuba and free diving, a redesigned compass, a lightweight titanium case, a precision dual-frequency GPS, and its battery could last up to 36 hours (up to 60 hours in low power mode). It had a screen that was twice as bright as other Apple Watch models (up to 2000 nits) and had a night mode for low-light situations.

The Apple Watch Ultra also had an extra “Action button” on the left side that “gives you quick, physical control over a variety of functions. It’s customizable and can do things like control a workout, mark a Compass Waypoint, or begin a dive.” The “International Orange” button could be customized in the iPhone Watch app to control the following functions:

  • Workout
  • Stopwatch
  • Waypoint
  • Backtrack
  • Dive
  • Flashlight
  • Shortcut

When pressed and held, the Action Button activated an “86-decibel sound pattern to attract help” that “can be heard up to 600 feet or 180 meters away.”

The Apple Watch Ultra also had a Three‑Microphone Array to allow use in windy environments. The microphones used an adaptive algorithm that “picks the best microphone for audio. Machine learning filters noise for optimal voice clarity.”

The larger size of the Apple Watch Ultra screen allowed a few additional display features unavailable in other models. While working out, the display allowed viewing up to six simultaneous metrics. The redesigned Compass app could be accessed in a new ring display on certain watch face designs and offered real-time elevation, incline, longitude, and latitude along with the directional information.

The Apple Watch Ultra was released in just one color, size, and finish: a metallic light-beige shade of titanium. The display was 49mm. All models used three chips, including the S8 with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip, and U1 Ultra Wideband chip. GPS and Cellular were standard features along with 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.3. It measured 49 x 44mm and was 14.4mm deep. It weighed 61.3 grams.

Sources Apple (Newsroom, product, specs)

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Apple Gift Cards (2022)

This set of Apple Gift Cards each features a different design. According to Apple, gift cards can be used for:

“Products, accessories, apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, iCloud+, and more. This gift card does it all. And then some.”

Beginning in 2021, this style of Apple Gift Card was sold with an included “collectible sticker.” According to an Apple Support article:

“The front of your Apple Gift Card shows a colorful Apple logo on a white background. The gift card is inside a sleeve, and the Apple logo is a collectible sticker. The pattern might look different from the image that you see here, because Apple Gift Cards are available with a range of designs. Use your Apple Gift Card at an Apple Store to buy products and accessories. Or redeem it in the App Store and use it for apps, subscriptions like Apple Music or iCloud+, purchases from apple.com, and more.”

In the early 2020s, Apple Gift Card scams were somewhat common. In 2022, 9to5Mac described a common pattern for such a scam:

“A victim receives a phone call from someone claiming to work for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They are told that there is a problem with their tax filing, and that unless the matter is resolved immediately, they face arrest. When asked how to arrange payment, victims are asked to buy Apple gift cards…and then pass the details to the caller.”

As of March 2023, Apple’s Gift Card website includes multiple references to potential scams. Apple also had a page describing gift card scams: “Be aware of scams involving Apple Gift Cards, App Store & iTunes Gift Cards, and Apple Store Gift Cards.” Further, each printed gift card includes the warning: “Beware of gift card scams. Do not share your code.”

Source: Apple (gift cards, support, scams), 9to5Mac

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Apple Distinguished School Journal (black with elastic band, c. 2022)

This black journal-style notebook has an elastic band and features the Apple Distinguished School logotype printed in white. The interior of the notebook has off-white lined pages.

The name of manufacturer is embossed on the back, SPECTOR & CO. This notebook measures 5.5 x 8.5 inches and is 5/16 inch thick. the two outside edges are rounded slightly.

Apple describes the Distinguished Schools program:

“Apple Distinguished Schools are centers of leadership and educational excellence ​that demonstrate Apple’s vision for learning with technology — and we believe they are some of the most innovative schools in the world.”

As of March 2023, Apple reported that there were 728 Apple Distinguished Schools in 36 countries.

I have two of these notebooks in my collection, and both are unused.

Source: Apple

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Apple Watch Series 8 (45mm, Starlight Aluminum, with Pistachio Braided Solo Loop band, 2022)

The Apple Watch Series 8 is similar to the previous Series 7 model, but has a few more features including temperature sensors for health monitoring, a new Crash Detection feature, and a new Low Power Mode. Apple’s press release touts:

“Apple Watch Series 8 features the beloved design of Apple Watch, including a large, Always-On Retina display and a strong crack-resistant front crystal. With all-day 18-hour battery life, Apple Watch Series 8 builds on best-in-class health and safety features like the ECG app and fall detection by introducing temperature-sensing capabilities, retrospective ovulation estimates, Crash Detection, and international roaming.”

Like all previous Apple Watch models, the Series 8 uses a Digital Crown and a touch display. The 45mm size uses a 396×484 “Always-On” Retina OLED screen with Ion-X glass (the same size introduced with the previous Series 7).

The aluminum GPS models were available in four colors: Silver; Midnight (dark gray, almost black); Starlight (warm silver); and (PRODUCT)RED. Three Stainless Steel colors were available: Gold, Silver, and Graphite. All colors were available in 41mm and 45mm.

Two Stainless Steel Series 8 Apple Watch Hermès models were available in Silver and Space Black; thus, Space Black Stainless Steel was exclusive to the Hermès Series 8.

No Series 8 Apple Watch Edition models were offered. (Apple Watch Edition Series 7 models were offered in titanium and space black titanium.)

During the release of the Apple Watch Series 8 and iPhone 14, an extended demo of the Crash Detection was presented. Apple describes the feature:

“To enable Crash Detection, Apple developed an advanced sensor-fusion algorithm that leverages a new, more powerful gyroscope and accelerometer on Apple Watch… To create the algorithm, data was collected from these new motion sensors at professional crash test labs with common passenger cars in simulated real-world accidents, including head-on, rear-end, side-impact, and rollovers. In addition to motion data, Crash Detection uses the barometer, GPS, and the microphone on iPhone as inputs to detect the unique patterns that can indicate whether a severe crash has taken place.”

Soon after the the release of Crash Detection, media began reporting incidents of false positive reports. 9to5Mac reported that “even though Apple uses all-new hardware, an advanced algorithm, and over a million hours of crash data, false positives are still possible… roller coasters have been causing a number of erroneous automatic 911 calls by tricking Apple’s Crash Detection.” The Verge reported, “Apple’s iPhones and watches contain sensors and safeguards designed to trigger Crash Detection only in a true emergency. But skiers and snowmobilers are unknowingly setting it off.”

The release of Apple Watch Series 8 coincided with the release of watchOS 9. Among other features, for the first time, watchOS 9 allowed all Apple Watch users to access previously exclusive Nike watch faces: “Starting this fall, any Apple Watch user running watchOS 9 — even those without a Nike model — will be able to access all the Nike watch faces, including the fresh colors coming to the Bounce face.”

This Starlight Aluminum 45mm model shipped with a Starlight Sport Band. It is shown here with a Pistachio Braided Solo Loop band.

Sources: Apple (Newsroom, Product), EveryMac, 9to5Mac, The Verge

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Apple Watch Sport Loop (45mm, Oat Milk/Lemon Zest, Spring 2022)

The Apple Watch Sport Loop band was woven from nylon thread to create a hook-and-loop closure. These bands were available for the 41mm and 45mm Apple Watch models, and were offered in sizes to fit 130–200mm wrists (41mm) and 145–220mm wrists (45mm). The bands also fit older Apple Watch sizes.

This Oat Milk/Lemon Zest band used a two-stripe design first introduced in Fall 2021. One stripe was “Oat Milk,” a shade of off-white, and the other was “Lemon Zest,” a shade of bright yellow. The edges were black and provided a striking contrast to the lighter stripes. The connector plastics were off-white—a similar shade to the “Oat Milk” color—and the closure plastic was black.

Apple described the Apple Watch Sport Loop band:

“Soft, breathable, and lightweight, the Sport Loop features a hook-and-loop fastener for quick and easy adjustment. The double-layer nylon weave has dense loops on the skin side that provide soft cushioning while allowing moisture to escape. On the reverse side, the attachment loops are securely anchored for superior durability.”

Source: Apple, Bandbreite

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Apple Watch Sport Loop (45mm, Nectarine/Peony, Spring 2022)

The Apple Watch Sport Loop band was woven from nylon thread to create a hook-and-loop closure. These bands were available for the 41mm and 45mm Apple Watch models, and were offered in sizes to fit 130–200mm wrists (41mm) and 145–220mm wrists (45mm). The bands also fit older Apple Watch sizes.

This Nectarine/Peony band used a two-stripe design first introduced in Fall 2021. One stripe was “Nectarine,” a shade of shade of bright orange, and the other was “Peony,” a bright red/pink. The edges and connector plastics were off-white, and the closure plastics matched the Peony stripe.

Apple described the Apple Watch Sport Loop band:

“Soft, breathable, and lightweight, the Sport Loop features a hook-and-loop fastener for quick and easy adjustment. The double-layer nylon weave has dense loops on the skin side that provide soft cushioning while allowing moisture to escape. On the reverse side, the attachment loops are securely anchored for superior durability.”

In my opinion, the shade of Nectarine does, indeed, match the orange gradient that can be found on an actual nectarine. However, as an Indiana native where the peony is the state flower, this shade of “Peony” is not representative of the actual plant’s flower.

Source: Apple, Bandbreite

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Apple Watch Sport Loop (45mm, Lavender Gray/Light Lilac, Spring 2022)

The Apple Watch Sport Loop band was woven from nylon thread to create a hook-and-loop closure. These bands were available for the 41mm and 45mm Apple Watch models, and were offered in sizes to fit 130–200mm wrists (41mm) and 145–220mm wrists (45mm). The bands also fit older Apple Watch sizes.

This Lavender Gray/Light Lilac band used a two-stripe design first introduced in Fall 2021. One stripe was “Lavender Gray,” a shade of shade of light purple-gray, and the other was “Light Lilac” a light pale purple (almost white). The edges and connector plastics were a contrasting yellow (similar to the “Lemon Zest” shade used in Apple’s Spring 2022 collection), and the closure plastics matched the Lavender Gray stripe.

Apple described the Apple Watch Sport Loop band:

“Soft, breathable, and lightweight, the Sport Loop features a hook-and-loop fastener for quick and easy adjustment. The double-layer nylon weave has dense loops on the skin side that provide soft cushioning while allowing moisture to escape. On the reverse side, the attachment loops are securely anchored for superior durability.”

Source: Apple, Bandbreite

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Alpine Loop (Orange, Large, 2022)

The Apple Watch Alpine Loop was released along with the Apple Watch Ultra on September 7, 2022. The Apple Watch Ultra “brings a new bold design and a wide range of features built for endurance, exploration, and adventure.”

In the original press release, Apple described the Alpine Loop as one of its “New Bands Designed for the Great Outdoors.” Apple adds:

“With explorers in mind, the Alpine Loop band features two integrated layers made from one continuous weaving process that eliminates the need for stitching. The top loops, interspersed with high-strength yarn, provide adjustability and a secure attachment for the titanium G-hook fastener.”

Apple’s product page described the Alpine Loop:

“The rugged Alpine Loop is made from two textile layers woven together into one continuous piece without stitching. High-strength yarns reinforce the top loops, and the corrosion-resistant titanium G-hook slides easily into the loops for secure fit.”

This Alpine Loop is Orange. In fact, the entire band is bright orange with no other accent colors. The connectors and the “G-hook” closure are made of the same color titanium as the Apple Watch Ultra. Although splitting hairs, a more apt name for the hook would be a “g-hook” since it matches the shape of a lowercase—not uppercase—“g.”

All Apple Watch Ultra models fit the single-size 49mm case. The Alpine Loop is made primarily of polyester.

Finally, this Orange Alpine Loop was named “Band of the Year/2022” by users of the highly recommended Bandbreite app for Apple Watch Band collectors. I participated in the voting, and I included this band in the three choices I was allowed to contribute to the poll.

Source: Apple (Product, Newsroom), Bandbreite app

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Trail Loop (Blue/Gray, M/L, 2022)

The Apple Watch Trail Loop was released along with the Apple Watch Ultra on September 7, 2022. The Apple Watch Ultra “brings a new bold design and a wide range of features built for endurance, exploration, and adventure.”

In the original press release, Apple described the Trail Loop as one of its “New Bands Designed for the Great Outdoors.” Apple added:

“Designed specifically for endurance athletes and runners, the Trail Loop band is the thinnest Apple Watch band to date. The lightweight woven textile is both soft and flexible, allowing it to cinch to the optimal fit, and the convenient tab is designed for quick and easy adjustment.”

Apple’s product page described the Trail Loop:

“The thin, lightweight Trail Loop is made from a nylon weave creating a soft band with increased elasticity for a comfortable fit. The band is infinitely adjustable with a convenient pull tab for quick adjustments on the go.”

This Trail Loop is Blue/Gray. The main outer field of the band is a dark gray, while the inside of the band uses a thin alternating stripe pattern of dark and light gray. One edge of the band is accented in light gray and the other side is accented in blue. The connectors are made of the same color titanium as the Apple Watch Ultra. The band has a closure tab that is stitched to the main band.

All Apple Watch Ultra models fit the single-size 49mm case. The Trail Loop is made primarily of nylon.

Source: Apple (Product, Newsroom)