Apple has introduced the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. While the hardware design remains largely unchanged, the devices are receiving significant software updates focused on AI and health tracking.
The new Audio Intelligence features include Live Rewind, which allows users to view a text snippet of the previous 15 seconds of a conversation via a double press of the Digital Crown. Users can query Siri about the transcript or save it to the Siri app.
Siri Recap uses ambient listening to generate high-level notes, titles, and key points from daily conversations, such as team meetings or parent-teacher conferences. Additionally, a Sound Recognition feature has been introduced for the hard of hearing to detect sirens, alarms, and baby cries.
The devices feature an updated health-sensing system with increased electrode surface area for ECG readings and redesigned photodiodes for better optical sensing. More power-efficient green LEDs are used for heart-rate measurements. Background heart rate readings are now taken every five seconds, which is 60 times more frequent than before.
The watches also introduce readiness scores based on activity, vitals, and sleep, and a Health Age feature that compares key health metrics, including VO2 max and sleep, with the user's actual age.