New Apple Watch is a dive computer

[scubadada]

That was already disclosed earlier on this thread and others -- three failures of the Datamax Pro, and a fourth which refused to boot-up in a local dive store, the last attributed to faulty batteries; the failures in the water, do to cheap-o o-rings and flooding.

I was actually blamed for the flooding for not disassembling the new, off the shelf computers, and checking o-ring placements, one whose original boot involved Greco-Roman wrestling to remove -- and I am not a delicate flower.

Ironically, I dropped them for SeaQuest / Suunto in 1992 -- and apparently managed to be an statistical outlier who never had any issues with them, and whose depth sensors all jibbed . . .

So, I guess experience is personal. That's why I think the Teric repair and replacement thread is valuable.

 

[brsnow]

I used a geo for a long time with no issues. Perdix, teric, now a peridx 2 with no issues, I think the apple/perdix 2 will be a nice combo. Will only use the app for trips that I like to have a back up.

 

[scubadada]

That was already disclosed earlier on this thread and others -- three failures of the Datamax Pro, among the earliest air-integrated computers -- and a fourth which refused to boot-up in a local dive store, the last attributed to faulty batteries; the failures in the water, do to cheap-o o-rings and flooding.

I was actually blamed for the flooding for not disassembling the new, off the shelf computers, and checking the o-ring placements and battery compartments, one whose original boot involved Greco-Roman wrestling to remove -- and I am not a delicate flower. I managed a full twenty minutes on one, at thirty meters; the other two, less than that, even after the o-rings were replaced by a tech, who also swore at the boot.

Ironically, I dropped them for SeaQuest / Suunto in 1992-3 -- and apparently managed to be an statistical outlier who never had any issues with them, AI or otherwise, and whose depth sensors all jibbed, over thousands of dives . . .

I may be wrong, but think DataMax Pro Air came out in 1994 and the DataMax Pro Plus Nitrox came out in 1997. I believe the Pro Plus 2, that I bought in 2002, came out in 1999. Perhaps your switch to Suunto was a little later, glad it worked out though. What deco algorithm were they using back then, before or after RGBM?

 

[Bigbella]

I may be wrong, but think DataMax Pro Air came out in 1994 and the DataMax Pro Plus Nitrox came out in 1997. I believe the Pro Plus 2, that I bought in 2002, came out in 1999. Perhaps your switch to Suunto was a little later, glad it worked out though. What deco algorithm were they using back then, before or after RGBM?

I am sure of the date, since I had a bit of a windfall that year and bought lots of gear -- and I just saw that there was an old "Google Groups" discussion about them both (Datamax Sport and Datamax Pro) back in 1992; so too, an old 1993 receipt for the Suunto Solution (all purchased after the Oceanic debacle) . . .

Perhaps you're thinking of the Pro-Plus?

 

[Thunder Struck]

So the specs are curious that I got from here: Apple Watch Ultra - Full phone specifications

Body	Dimensions	49 x 44 x 14.4 mm (1.93 x 1.73 x 0.57 in)
Weight	61.3 g (2.15 oz)
Build	Sapphire crystal front, ceramic/sapphire crystal back, titanium frame
SIM	eSIM
	IP6X certified 100m water resistant (WR100) 40m swimproof/diving (EN13319) MIL-STD 810H certified ECG certified (region dependent SW application; HW available on all models)

It mentions being rated to 40M for diving but then it mentions 100M water resistant. I wonder if the 40M is just because the software will be limited to that.

I'm hoping that other software options will come about that don't require a subscription, or if the subscription is ultimately only for cloud data logging, not to simply use the DC function.

 

[Jcp2]

If you don't want to pay the money to Oceanic, there will be an included free app called Depth that functions as a bottom timer. For those of you that want something less than a computer.

"Utilizing a new depth gauge, Apple Watch Ultra features a Depth app designed with an intuitive user interface. With just a glance, the Depth app displays time, current depth, water temperature, duration under water, and max depth reached. Users can program the Action button to instantly launch the Depth app."

 

[vondo]

Look forward to your update - option 2 is the one I’ll have to try, no dive planner in the near future unfortunately. Maybe November or next year.

It certainly seemed to work within the limits of what I could try. I started the tracker, left the phone in my car, and then did a shore dive. When I came back, I downloaded from my Perdix to the phone, viewed the dive and then hit the map icon (as you can see). You get this dialog. However, it did not find the existing site. I can only assume that's because from where I left the phone to where I have the dive site marked is probably 1/4 mile or more.

Anyhow, I'm sold even if just for marking sites. What I do now is take a GPX track, tag the photos I took on the dive with the GPX track, and then copy the location from the first photo to the dive site. This is like 10x easier.

Side note, it's interesting to see that the boat crew went back to shore when you are out diving...

 

[vondo]

It mentions being rated to 40M for diving but then it mentions 100M water resistant. I wonder if the 40M is just because the software will be limited to that.

Well, that's because somehow for a watch or other electronics 100M water resistant apparently doesn't mean resistant to 100 meters of water. The normal Apple Watch is "50M" resistant and they say not to take it diving. I know people who do and it seems fine, but they don't guarantee it. They claim because of the added pressure of motion, but come on...

But it's not just Apple, pretty much industry wide 50M means you can swim with it, not waterski, dive, etc.

 

[Marie13]

I know of at least one person who forget they had their Apple Watch on and went drysuit diving with it. Got bricked due to the pressure. Never worked again.

 

[Thunder Struck]

Well, that's because somehow for a watch or other electronics 100M water resistant apparently doesn't mean resistant to 100 meters of water. The normal Apple Watch is "50M" resistant and they say not to take it diving. I know people who do and it seems fine, but they don't guarantee it. They claim because of the added pressure of motion, but come on...

But it's not just Apple, pretty much industry wide 50M means you can swim with it, not waterski, dive, etc.

I mentioned before that 50M or 100M isn’t always that. Pressure from movement increases the perceived pressure on the unit. Many 50M watches have bit the dust when simply playing in the surf.