It's modular in the truest sense—you pick what matters to you
In the quiet rhythm of technological refinement, Apple has extended a small but meaningful gift to owners of the original Watch Ultra: a new watch face called Modular Ultra, already accessible through the watchOS 10 beta, that transforms the wrist into a dense, customizable instrument of awareness. With eight complications and a bezel that can speak the language of divers, climbers, or the simply time-conscious, it represents a rare convergence of precision and personalization. The public release arrives September 18, but for those willing to commit to the beta path, the future is already here.
- Apple debuted the Modular Ultra watch face alongside the Watch Ultra 2, but original Ultra owners need not feel left behind — the face already works on their devices via watchOS 10 beta.
- The tension lies in a one-way door: installing the beta is irreversible, and users must weigh the low but real risk of instability against the reward of early access.
- Eight complications plus a customizable bezel offering depth, elevation, or seconds make this the most information-dense face Apple has ever shipped, tied only with the older Infograph.
- The ability to build multiple versions of the same face — one for work, one for sport, one for travel — reframes the watch face as a context-aware tool rather than a static display.
- With the Release Candidate already in hand and a public launch set for September 18, the beta represents a low-risk preview of what millions will soon experience.
Apple introduced the Modular Ultra watch face at its Wonderlust event this week, pairing it with the new Apple Watch Ultra 2 — but owners of the original Ultra don't have to wait. The face is already live in the latest watchOS 10 beta, and it runs on first-generation hardware just as well as the new model.
What distinguishes Modular Ultra is its commitment to density without clutter. It supports up to eight complications — the small app widgets that populate a watch face — alongside a customizable bezel ring that can display water depth, elevation, or a seconds counter. It's a fully digital design that manages to show seconds by default, a combination surprisingly rare among Apple's offerings, and a night mode adds further visual flexibility.
Accessing the face requires enrolling in Apple's beta program and installing both iOS 17 and watchOS 10. The critical caveat: once watchOS beta is installed, there's no rolling back. The current build is a Release Candidate — essentially the final version before the September 18 public launch — so instability is unlikely, but the commitment is permanent.
Installation is simple: press and hold the watch screen, swipe to the plus sign, tap New Watch Faces, and select Modular Ultra. Customization flows from there — bezel function, numeral style, color, night mode, and then the seven remaining complication slots drawn from Apple's ecosystem and third-party apps alike.
The face's deeper value lies in replication. Users can build multiple versions of Modular Ultra, each configured for a different context — work, exercise, travel — and swipe between them as the day shifts. It ties Infograph for the most complications ever on an Apple Watch face, but its cleaner aesthetic and night mode give it a distinct character that many will find more livable.
Apple unveiled a new watch face called Modular Ultra alongside the Apple Watch Ultra 2 at its Wonderlust event this week, and if you've been waiting to try it, the good news is you don't have to wait for the official release. The face is already available to anyone running the latest watchOS 10 beta, and it works on the original Apple Watch Ultra, not just the new model.
What makes Modular Ultra worth the attention is its density of function. The face can display up to eight complications—those are the small app widgets that live on your watch face—plus a customizable bezel ring that can show water depth for diving, elevation for climbing, or a seconds counter. The design is clean and digital, which sets it apart from most watch faces that either go analog or sacrifice the seconds display for a cleaner look. Modular Ultra does both: it's digital and it shows seconds, a rare combination that appeals to people who want precision and information at a glance.
Getting the face onto your watch requires enrolling in Apple's beta program and installing both iOS 17 and watchOS 10 on your devices. The process is straightforward but carries a warning: once you install the watchOS beta, you cannot roll back to an earlier version. The current beta is a Release Candidate, meaning it's the final version Apple intends to ship to the public on September 18, so the risk of instability is low, but the irreversibility is worth noting.
To install the face itself, press and hold your watch screen, swipe left until a plus sign appears, tap New Watch Faces, and select Modular Ultra from the top of the list. From there, the customization begins. You choose your bezel complication first—seconds, depth, elevation, or none at all—then move on to styling the numerals, selecting colors, and toggling night mode between automatic, always-on, or off. The real fun comes in populating the remaining seven complication slots with whatever apps matter most to you.
The layout gives you three rows to work with: top, middle, and bottom. One user might fill the top row with Noise monitoring, Training Today (which uses your health data to suggest whether exercise is advisable), and a hearing aid control app. The middle could hold Weather for a multi-hour forecast, while the bottom might show Shazam for music identification and dual weather complications for temperature and UV index. Another person might arrange the same face entirely differently, pulling from hundreds of available complications across Apple's ecosystem and third-party apps.
What makes this flexibility genuinely useful is the ability to create multiple versions of the same Modular Ultra face, each tuned for different moments in your day or different activities. One configuration for work, another for exercise, another for travel. You can swipe between them as your needs shift, which transforms the watch face from a static display into something more like a context-aware tool.
The face ties with Infograph for the record of most complications on a single Apple Watch face, but Modular Ultra's cleaner digital design and night mode implementation give it a visual edge that many users will prefer. For anyone curious about what Apple is planning to ship in two weeks, the beta offers a risk-free way to explore it now—as long as you're willing to commit to staying on the beta track until the official release.
Notable Quotes
You can set up multiple versions of the same watch face with different complications for different scenarios— Leander Kahney, Cult of Mac
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that this face works on the original Ultra, not just the new model?
It signals that Apple isn't gatekeeping the best features to force upgrades. The original Ultra owners get the new face immediately, which builds loyalty and keeps the older hardware feeling current.
Eight complications sounds like a lot. Isn't that overwhelming?
It could be, but the genius is that you're not forced to use all eight. You pick what matters to you. Someone who dives uses depth; someone who hikes uses elevation; someone like the author just wants seconds. It's modular in the truest sense.
What's the significance of showing seconds on a digital face?
Most digital watch faces drop the seconds to look cleaner. But if you're timing something, checking your heart rate during exercise, or just want precision, seconds matter. It's a small detail that signals this face is built for people who actually use their watch as a tool, not just a notification hub.
Why does the night mode matter enough to mention twice?
Because it changes how the watch looks in low light. A good night mode isn't just dimmer—it's a completely different aesthetic. It's the difference between a watch that adapts to your environment and one that just gets harder to read.
The warning about not being able to roll back—how serious is that?
Serious enough to mention, but not serious enough to scare people away. This is a Release Candidate, which means Apple has already tested it extensively. It's the version they're shipping in two weeks anyway. You're not really taking a risk; you're just getting it early.