iFixit's Apple Watch Ultra teardown video shows that it's "almost repairable"

Apple Watch Ultra scuba diver underwater
(Image credit: Apple)

The brand new Apple Watch Ultra is capturing a lot of attention right now because it's big and beautiful. It's also designed to be used in rugged situations, which begs the question of whether it's easy to repair if those situations cause it harm. As always, iFixit has the answer.

And as is often the disappointing case, the Apple Watch Ultra isn't that easy to repair at all.

So close

According to iFixit, the new Apple Watch Ultra can be taken apart from both the front and the back — in fact, the back has four screws just begging to be undone. But there's a problem — those screws don't get you to anything you're likely to need to replace including the battery. To do that, you're going to need to take the screen off.

And yes, that probably also means breaking it.

The full teardown video provided by iFixit takes us on a run-through of opening this thing from both sides, and it also gives us a great look at how Apple has put its latest wearable together. Even the exposed chassis looks impressive, but we can probably all agree that the Apple Watch Ultra looks better when it's in one piece.

It's disappointing that the Apple Watch Ultra isn't an easy repair, especially given how likely it is that it will get damaged when people do the adventuring Apple seems to think they will.

Those looking to get their hands on an Apple Watch Ultra can buy one right now — they're all priced at $799 and include cellular connectivity. There are multiple bands to choose from, but the watch itself is only available in one titanium finish.

Prefer a more colorful option? Perhaps the Apple Watch Series 8 is more your style. It's cheaper, too.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.