Apple Watch 12 & Ultra 4: New health sensors, Siri AI, and Audio Intelligence

At Apple’s ‘Surprise and Shine’ event, one of the announcements was the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. 

Unfortunately, no new redesign was unveiled, but what was shown was enough to leave us excited. Both will feature the new S11 chip, plus new health sensors, Siri AI, and Audio Intelligence. 

The new S11 chip is Apple’s most capable wearable processor yet, powering the Health Sensing System in the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. It handles higher-frequency heart-rate and HRV measurements, improves step tracking, supports new Audio Intelligence features, and helps deliver more advanced health and fitness insights.

Battery life is another area where both stand out, with the Apple Watch 12 offering up to 24 hours of everyday battery life (it can go up to 38 hours in low power mode), and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 delivering more than two days of battery life, up to 50 hours (in certain modes).

What’s new with the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 health sensors

Apple’s new health sensing system includes increased electrode surface area, redesigned photodiodes, and larger green LEDs for improved accuracy. During its internal testing, the new Apple Watch was tested against ECG chest straps and found to be the “most accurate wearable for heart rate sensing”. According to Apple, it did this by involving more than 1,000 participants across demographic groups in a study, comparing the Series 12 against other leading wearables. Apple says its Watch recorded the highest heart-rate accuracy across the devices tested.

But that’s not all that the new Apple Watch 12 and Ultra 4 can do. Other new health-related features include:

The new health-sensing system delivers higher-frequency continuous heart rate data, which is a key indicator of your overall health. Background heart rate readings are now taken every five seconds, all day long, even while you’re on the go.

A new measurement, Heart Rate Variability (HRV), is also being taken. This is a key indicator of stress and recovery and is available to view in a new section of the Heart Rate app. Both the Series 12 and Ultra 4 measure HRV as often as every five minutes, which Apple says is up to 24 times more frequently than before.

The Apple Watch Readiness score analyses activity, vitals, and sleep to provide daily insights into your capacity to deal with the day ahead. It will tell you to either Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It. This helps you decide what to do during your day, whether you’re headed into a workday or tackling a training plan.

Health Age metric shows how selected metrics track relative to your actual age. It combines watch data with blood work biomarkers (calculated by a third party and currently only available in the United States) to assess long-term health.

A new Longevity Tab in the Health App assesses your overall health across multiple categories.

Step tracking has received a significant upgrade, with it undergoing a redesign with new machine-learning algorithms. Combined with the S11 chip, this gives more accurate all-day step counts and improved distance measurements for indoor walking and running. It also adds a new Steps complication that shows the current step count directly on the watch face. 

Using the built-in microphone on the Apple Watch, you can now use Siri AI and Audio Intelligence to stay aware of the world. Key features include:

Sound Recognition is designed to aid the hearing-impaired. It provides on-device AI notifications for sirens, alarms, alerts, babies crying and doorbells.

Live Rewind gives you a 15-second transcription tool that you can access by double-pressing the digital crown. This gives you a visual cue of any conversation you may have missed. 

Siri Recap is an tool that listens to surrounding conversations that generates titles, summaries, and key points from conversations, viewable in the Siri app.

Pricing and availability

The Apple Watch Series 12 is available in 42mm and 46mm sizes, and comes in Space Grey, Black, Light Gold, and Dark Bronze in the aluminium finishes. Polished titanium models come in Radiant Gold and Natural, while ceramic models come in Pearl White and Night Blue. 

The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is available in natural and black titanium.

Pre-orders for both start today, with availability from 18 September. Prices for the Apple Watch Series 12 start at S$599 for the Aluminium model, S$1,049 for the Titanium model, and S$1,319 for the Ceramic model. The Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at S$1,199 for the Alpine Loop, Trail Loop, and Ocean Band. Those buying the Titanium Milanese Loop will have to pay S$1,399.