Apple has introduced Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 which have now become more than just a fitness tracker thanks to a new Health Sensing System.
The new Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 will be available to pre-order on September 12 before going on sale on September 18.
Apple has included a redesigned sensor system that captures biometric data at dramatically higher frequencies while a new S11 chip brings AI-powered audio processing directly onto the device.
At the heart of the new devices is Apple’s redesigned Health Sensing System.
This isn’t just another health metric, instead Apple is improving the underlying quality and frequency of data collection.
The ECG electrodes have a larger surface area for better skin contact while the optical sensing system has been redesigned around a ring of photodiodes and larger, more power-efficient green LEDs.
The result is a significant increase in how often the watch can collect biometric data.
Background heart-rate measurements can now be taken every five seconds – that’s 60 times more often than before while HRV (heart rate variation) sampling increases to every five minutes, a 24-fold improvement.
Apple says its system also delivers the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable, based on a head-to-head comparison against competing wearables using an ECG chest strap as the reference.
More frequent and higher-quality measurements give Apple a much richer picture of how a person is responding to activity, sleep, stress, and recovery.
That creates the foundation for a watch that can move beyond telling users what happened to suggesting what they should do next.
Another headline addition is Readiness, a daily score that combines recent activity, sleep, and physiological data to produce a simple recommendation: recover, pace yourself, or have a go.
And that the score can update throughout the day as the watch collects new information.
That means the new Apple Watch is like a personal health coach right there on your wrist.
The Health app also been redesigned and extends the same philosophy.
There’s a new Insights tab that uses Apple Intelligence to summarize health information and provide personalized recommendations, such as suggesting when a user might benefit from interval training.
Apple is also introducing longer-term health indicators, including Health Age, which compares metrics such as VO2 max, sleep, and blood-work results against a user’s chronological age.
Another major new feature for Apple Watch is Audio Intelligence.
Powered by the S11 chip, Audio Intelligence on the Apple Watch can now process ambient audio directly on the device and turn it into useful information.
Sound Recognition can identify environmental sounds such as sirens, alarms, doorbells and a crying baby which extends the watch’s accessibility capabilities beyond traditional health monitoring.
And then there’s Live Rewind which allows users to go back 15 seconds and generate a transcript of what was just said. That transcript can then be queried through Siri or saved for later.
The feature effectively gives the watch a lightweight memory for conversations—useful for meetings, presentations, or moments when a user simply missed what someone said.
Siri Recap takes things even further.
With the feature enabled, the watch can generate a title, summary, and key points from ambient conversations such as meetings or conferences.
Apple also emphasised the privacy behind this functionality.
Apple says raw audio is not stored, the underlying audio is inaccessible, speakers are not identified, and generated recaps are end-to-end encrypted.
The new S11 chip is therefore doing more than providing additional processing power.
Its CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine are derived from the A20 Pro architecture, while a new secure exclave includes a dedicated audio buffer for private processing.
APPLE WATCH SERIES 12
Apple Watch Series 12 lineup expands across aluminium, titanium and ceramic finishes.
Apple says with Ceramic Shield 2 on the front glass offers 60 per cent increase in toughness.
Battery life remains up to 24 hours.
Apple Watch is available to pre-order on September 12 and goes on sale on September 18.
Pricing for Apple Watch aluminium starts at $649, Apple Watch titanium from $1,249 and Apple Watch ceramic from $1,599.
APPLE WATCH ULTRA 4
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is all about endurance with battery life extending beyond two days, with up to 18 hours of continuous GPS and heart-rate workout tracking or up to 45 hours in Max Extended Workout mode.
Apple Watch Ultra comes in two finishes – natural and black titanium.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 is available to pre-order on September 12 and goes on sale on September 18.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 is priced at $1,349.
