The Apple Watch has long been seen as the ultimate (and nigh ubiquitous) health tracking device. The Watch’s iconic rings design for tracking movement and exercise has changed many lives while the Watch’s other features such as AFib and fall detection have quite literally saved many others.
And while Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 feature new sensors that promise to make them even better health trackers, the watches also usher in new Apple Intelligence features that signal Apple’s hope that its new Watches could become the ultimate AI wearables as well.
New Chip, New Sensors, Battery Life Improvements
Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 are both built atop the new S11 chip, which Apple says is the most powerful chip the company has ever placed in a wearable. But more improtantly, the new watches also feature a completely reengineered sensor array.
The new sensor array provides better skin contact and better optical sensing to provide more accurate heart rate and ECG readings but to also enable improved high-frequency continuous heart rate data during workouts. Apple says thanks to the new sensor array, the latest Apple Watches offer the most accurate heart rate sensing of any wearable on the market.
And Apple says even though the health sensors will now be polling more frequently, battery life on Series 12 remains at up to 24 hours per charge and now with up to 10 hours of battery life during an outdoor workout, a 25% increase over Series 11. Plus, Series 12 now delivers faster charging with 15 minutes of charging adding up to 12 hours of additional battery life.
Meanwhile, Ultra 4 has gotten a slight boost to total battery life, now capable of up to 50 hours in regular use and up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode. Apple Watch Ultra also gets a new Extended Workout mode that delivers up to 25 hours of battery life for tracking workouts with full GPS and heart rate readings, a 25% increase from the previous model. The new Max Extended Workout mode allows Apple Watch Ultra 4 to track outdoor workouts for up to 45 hours.
New Readiness Score
But the new sensor array also brings some major changes that many users have been requesting for years: more frequent background heart rate and HRV readings.
Apple says the new sensor array enable Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 to sample heart rate in the background every five seconds—60x more frequently than before—while HRV is sampled every five minutes—24x more frequently.
The move signals that Apple is finally showing interest in competing with other health and fitness wearables like Whoop and Garmin, which have long offered continuous heart rate and HRV monitoring and make that trove of data central in offering more accurate and more useful recovery and training readiness data. (Apple began tracking training load a few years ago, but has until now completely ignored recovery as part of its fitness platform.)
Thanks to the more frequent HRV polling, Apple is not only adding HRV to the Vitals app, but also offering a new Readiness score. Based on your training load, sleep, and Vitals, Apple will offer Readiness ratings of Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, and Go For It to give you more insight into how your body will be able to respond to training in a given day.
Audio Intelligence
But the new Apple Watches go beyond health and fitness as Apple is making use of the micophones onboard Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 to provide Apple Intelligence-powered Audio Intelligence features.
First up is Sound Recognition, which can assist the hard of hearing by listening for distinct sounds like sirens, alarms, doorbells, or a baby crying. If the watch hears one of these it will send a push notification to make the wearer aware.
Then there’s Live Rewind. We all encounter situations on a daily basis where we missed a detail someone said in conversation, or an announcement during travel or a gathering. With a double press of the Digital Crown, Live Rewind will show you an audio transcript of the last 15 seconds, allowing you to read what was said.
Finally, there is Siri Recap. When enabled, Siri Recap will listen for longer periods of time—for example, taking notes during a meeting. Once finished, Siri will create summaries that can be viewed later in the Siri app.
Colors, Pricing, and Availability
Apple Watch Series 12 will start at $399 with aluminum models available in dark bronze, black, light gold, and space gray. Series 12 will also be available in gold and natural stainless steel and Apple is also bringing back the popular ceramic option. Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799 in black and natural titanium finishes.
You can pre-order Series 12 and Ultra 4 starting today and the watches will become available on September 18.
