The Apple Watch Ultra is designed differently than regular Apple Watches. It has a titanium body while other watches use aluminum. It also has a flat screen covered in glass instead of curved. The buttons feel stronger. Another unique part is the gray ceramic back that matches the titanium color. However, photos from the FCC reveal Apple may have picked the ceramic color late in development.
Federal Communication Commission (FCC) photos show an early Apple Watch Ultra prototype. Someone found these on X (Formerly Twitter). In the photos, the back is black ceramic like normal Apple Watches. Other differences are seen too. The Action button design is different and appears to be plastic not metal.
It’s hard to know how early this prototype is. Apple sends prototypes to the FCC before products launch so they can approve it. Sometimes last minute changes happen from what the FCC sees. For example, iPhone X prototypes showed a gold color that never released. Instead, Apple used it for the next year’s iPhone XS.
Seeing the black ceramic back is interesting. It makes us wonder if Apple tested other colors before settling on gray. The button changes also show design tweaks happening late. Ultimately, they went with metal over plastic for the Action button too.
