This is Technology Bytes, episode 187 for October 4, 2026.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
Enjoy, and here we go.
The last few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of time talking about Apple’s Surprise and Shine event and what they announced and what it looks like and what piques my interest and all those kinds of things.
And this week, I pulled the trigger on a purchase, and I actually purchased the Ultra 4 and the Apple Watch Series 12.
I’ve mentioned in this podcast before that I’m a two Apple Watch kind of person, and so why do I need two?
Need is probably never the word to use in my relationship with Apple products.
But the fact is that, you know, my daughter is rocking an Apple Watch Series 6, and that is long in the tooth.
And so I could have probably just purchased Ultra 4 and given her my Series 11, and then I would have had an Ultra 3 and an Ultra 4, and I don’t really want to do that.
I’ve had an Ultra 3 and an Apple Watch 11 for a while, and I really like it because there are times where I want to watch that is a little sleeker, maybe not quite as bulky on the wrist, although I do love big watches.
So what I did is pulled the trigger, bought both watches.
I used the Apple Lease program.
Whether that’s wise or not, we will find out in maybe not all that too distant future.
But the nice thing was my wife was willing to take the 11, even though it was a fairly big watch, because I buy the biggest one.
She put it on and said, Yeah, it’s not that big a deal.
It fits well on her wrist.
She likes the bigger screen.
She can see it better.
And so her 10 went to our daughter, and she’s really happy with that as well.
My Ultra 3 went to my son, so he’s really happy with that as well.
And here I sit with the Ultra 4 and a Series 12 Apple Watch.
So why would I buy the new Apple Watches?
And a podcast I listen to says there’s a guy on there, Jason Snell, and he always says, Don’t buy Apple products on promise.
Buy them on the features that you want right now.
And so I broke that rule a little bit because, as I mentioned last week, there’s a recap feature that’s coming to the watch, fingers crossed, and there’s a rewind feature that’s coming to the watches, fingers crossed.
And I really want both of those features in my life.
I think they can be very helpful.
I have a little bit of hearing loss.
I use the AirPods Pro as hearing aids in given situations, and they’re very, very helpful.
But here I go buying on promise and not on actual features that are available this very minute.
So what have I noticed in the, I don’t know, I guess I’ve had it for three, maybe four days.
Well, one thing I’ve noticed is that the battery life is quite a bit better, and it’s not bad for me anyway.
Again, a two-watch person, so I never really run into battery issues, but it is definitely better.
And the other thing that I noticed is Just the way the watch reacts, that feels a little snappier, I guess.
Whether it is or not, I’m not 100% sure, but it just feels different and feels like it reacts better to the touches and has some really cool features in that way.
And I use my Apple Watches a lot for health activity.
So I walk every morning.
I do Apple Fitness workouts every morning except for Sunday, where Sunday I just do a walk.
And even on Sunday, I don’t walk super fast like I do on the other days.
It’s really just to get a little bit of exercise in the morning to start my day.
It’s the way I like to do it.
The other days I’m working hard on my walks, and on Sunday it’s not as much.
So there are health features that are there that I really like.
I wear my watch to bed at night, and it is nice to have the Apple Watch Series 12.
It’s a little smaller in profile than the Ultra, and so it actually works a little better when I use it at night.
And so looking at those health features and leaning on those health features and wanting that available is another reason that I bought the Bullet and did the upgrade.
You know, I already talked about maybe one of the top two reasons.
I love giving new things, even though not the newest necessarily, but I love upgrading my kids' things when I can afford to.
And so it was fun to give my son a new watch.
It was fun to give my wife a new watch.
It was fun to give my daughter a new watch and just see that they enjoy that as well.
Interestingly enough, the health features, sleeping through the night and wearing my watch, have recorded some higher than usual heart rates, and I think they do a breathing rate or something like that.
And they said it’s a little bit out of the normal.
And I’m like, okay, I don’t feel different.
I’m not sure what is happening.
It’s not a long way out of normal.
It’s just a little higher than normal.
And so it’s kind of interesting because maybe it’s just the fact that I have a new watch and it’s measuring the heart rate and the breathing just a little bit differently, maybe a little bit better.
And so in that, I’m seeing a shift in that data.
It’ll be interesting to see if my baseline resets on that and to see what happens over time.
So I’m, you know, four nights in or something like that, and the last three nights they’ve all said just a little bit out of normal.
And so it’ll see if that normal kind of resets.
And then another thing that I was really interested in is the readiness score that Apple talked about in their event.
And so I was looking for that yesterday, and I’m like, I don’t have it.
There’s no score, and it says, you know, wear your watch to sleep at night and then you can get a score.
And I’m like, I’ve been wearing it for three nights.
And so I did a little more reading on that, and it ends up that I think I have to wear the watch for seven straight days, sleeping and during the day, and then it will build a baseline, and then it will start to give me a readiness score.
So I’m looking forward to that.
Another thing that they’ve added is some assessments that you can do while wearing the watch and actually having your phone.
I am camera filming you while you do certain activities, and I don’t know what they all are, but I plan on going through that as well.
And so probably next week, I’m hoping I’ll have a readiness score.
I’ll have had the watch for another week at least.
Apple should release another beta in that time frame, and maybe I’ll get the recap and rewind.
But next week, I will still be talking about the Apple Watches because there’s more things that I will be able to test that I have not done to this point.
All in all, super happy with my purchase.
I tried to get a phone as well, but my AT&T plan and the way that it would work out, it just didn’t.
The cost that I saw from AT&T said like eight bucks a month, and I’m like, I think I can pull eight bucks a month, but I have to have an unlimited plan to do this upgrade for the eight bucks a month.
Otherwise, I’m spending $27 a month, and I also got watches, and so I’m like, okay, I don’t need a new phone.
My daughter’s phone is fine.
I would like to get her a new one.
I looked again today.
Yeah, it’s still not in the realm of possibility at this point.
Who knows, maybe in the not too distant future, but at the moment, I think the watch purchase is going to wait till next year.
Well, that is all I have for today.
If you have comments, suggestions, or questions, you can send them to technologybytes@marriagfamily.com.
As always, I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast, and I look forward to the next time we are together, taking another bite of technology.
