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'Call To The Wild' Apple Watch Ultra ad leans into extreme adventure

Apple Watch Ultra handles freezing temperatures

The new Apple Watch Ultra ad highlights not just durability, but also the one of the most extreme adventures mankind has ever undertaken.

Apple's ad for the Apple Watch Ultra, called "Call To The Wild," showcases some of the model's features. Some of the device's capabilities are water resistance, dust resistance, and a red night vision watch face called Wayfinder.

The titanium Apple Watch Ultra features a 49mm display, dual-band GPS, and an Action button that can be programmed for various functions. It can act as a depth gauge, and the device certified to EN13319, an internationally recognized standard for dive computers and gauges.

The Ultra also meets the MIL-STD 810H certification standard. Apple's tests for the watch involved altitude, high temperature, low temperature, temperature shock, immersion, freeze/thaw, shock, and vibration.

Shackleton ad

The voice over for "Call To The Wild" is a man reading a famous ad credited to Ernest Shackleton trying to recruit men for his expedition to explore the Antarctic.

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.

The advertisement was first referenced in a 1949 book called The 100 Greatest Advertisements: 1852-1958 written by Julian Watkins. The nature of the ad is disputed, as reportedly no one has ever seen it printed in a newspaper.

Nevertheless, both the advertisement and Shackleton's expedition captured the public's imagination throughout the nineteenth century, all the way to Apple in 2022.



7 Comments

slow n easy 9 Years · 400 comments

I just received my Ultra today. I’m kind of surprised that he didn’t mention the thickness as a drawback. I actually do feel a bit uneasy about the thickness. I also don’t like the orange on the watch or on the band. I didn’t realize at the time of order that the Trail Loop band has an orange tab on it. Hopefully the good outweighs the bad. I was actually debating whether to get the titanium or stainless steel on the series 7 for the sapphire glass but I just thought that the cost wasn’t going to be worth it. But it does bother me that my series 7 has scratches on it so that’s a big reason why I went for the Ultra. Battery life was another huge draw. Andrew mentioned that it has a 49 mm screen but it really doesn’t. It has a 49 mm case. The case is a lot bigger but the screen is only a little bigger. It looks a lot bigger because it’s flat instead of curved. the regular watch looks smaller than it is because the edge the the screen curves down at the edges.   

freediverx 16 Years · 1421 comments

The Ultra’s size shouldn’t be an issue for anyone accustomed to wearing large watches, especially for anyone who has owned watches from Garmin and similar. Its not ideal if this is going to be your only watch and you expect to wear it with formal attire. 

macgui 17 Years · 2471 comments

Andrew mentioned that it has a 49 mm screen but it really doesn’t. It has a 49 mm case. The case is a lot bigger but the screen is only a little bigger. It looks a lot bigger because it’s flat instead of curved. the regular watch looks smaller than it is because the edge the the screen curves down at the edges.   

You're incorrect. The Ultra has a 49mm display and the case is 49mm high. Display size is measure diagonally, not perpendicular to the width of the display. One non-Apple source I found claimed it was 48.77mm and in display parlance that's more than close enough for Gov't work.

The Series 8 has a 45mm display (on the 45mm Watch) and its case is 45mm high. So it would seem the Ultra's case and display have both increased by the same 4mm, or 3.77mm for the display vs the case. Hardly a lot bigger case and a little bigger screen.

It is a bit thicker and the flat sides might catch a cuff on the Ultra that might otherwise slide over the rounded edge of a Series 8 or other Watch. But some people complain about their cuff catching on a standard Apple Watch. First world problem. You can always return the Watch.