In its latest event, Apple did not just unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and the new iPhone Duo family; it also surprised smartwatch enthusiasts by introducing the new generation of its watches: the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. Although the exterior design follows the usual path of subtle updates, what lies beneath represents a qualitative shift in fitness and personal health tracking, thanks to a completely rebuilt health sensing system and the S11 chip, which brings exceptional artificial intelligence capabilities to your wrist that we have never seen before.
Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring: Goodbye to Intermittent Checks
Apple has long relied on a strategy of intermittent heart rate checks throughout the day to preserve battery life, with continuous tracking activated only during workouts. Today, Apple is completely changing this equation with the introduction of what it calls the “Health Sensing System.” This system centers around a redesigned optical heart rate sensor that works constantly and continuously, paired with a third-generation electrical heart sensor, marking the first radical update to heart sensors since the launch of the Apple Watch Series 6, which introduced blood oxygen measurement.
Thanks to the synergy between the new sensors and the S11 chip, equipped with advanced AI capabilities, Apple confirms that the Series 12 and Ultra 4 watches offer the most accurate heart rate monitoring in any wearable device. This is supported by a specialized scientific study that compared the watch’s performance to a medical chest strap for ECG. Accuracy is not the only improvement; it is accompanied by a super-fast measurement pace, as the watch measures the pulse every five seconds throughout the day—a rate 60 times higher than before.
It is not just about the regular pulse; the system also measures Heart Rate Variability (HRV) once every five minutes, which is about 24 times faster than the Apple Watch 11 and its predecessors. This continuous flow of data gives you a highly precise view of your physical state. Apple has also added a new software widget to the watch face that allows you to monitor your live heart rate at a glance, along with an update to the Vitals app to display a daytime window revealing vital changes before going to sleep.
Readiness App and a Holistic View of Your Health Age
In response to the demands of athletes and fitness enthusiasts, the Apple Watch Series 12 introduces a completely new app called “Readiness.” The app aims to summarize complex vital signs into a single, understandable number from 0 to 10, which accurately determines your body’s ability to exert effort on a given day based on your recent activity, training load, vital signs, and sleep quality.
This number is linked to clear, actionable recommendations ranging from: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It. What is special here is that the Readiness index updates automatically throughout the day as conditions change, explaining the direct reasons behind each rating, such as alerting you to the need for rest after an intense training session.
In parallel, the Health app on the iPhone is getting a comprehensive redesign to provide a holistic view, utilizing Apple Intelligence capabilities to summarize and intelligently interpret health indicators. One of the most notable additions is the “Longevity” tab, which introduces the “Health Age” metric, revealing your body’s biological age compared to your actual chronological age. It is scheduled to be released later this year, initially in English.
Audio Intelligence: Apple Intelligence Listens and Remembers
Apple did not limit artificial intelligence to health and sports tracking; it expanded the concept of “Visual Intelligence” to reach the world of audio under the name “Audio Intelligence.” Relying on the S11 processor, the Secure Exclave, and the watch’s built-in microphone, the watch works in harmony with AI models on the iPhone and private cloud computing to provide advanced audio functions.
The first of these features is “Live Rewind,” which allows you to read a text summarizing the last 15 seconds of an ongoing conversation directly on the screen, saving you in situations where you miss hearing a specific sentence. You can also pass this snippet to Siri to request further clarifications or save it for later review.
The “Siri Recap” feature acts as a smart note-taker during meetings to accurately summarize long conversations. Additionally, the Shazam app can now run in the background continuously to automatically identify surrounding music and display the song title without the need to open the app manually.
To dispel any privacy concerns, Apple clarified that the Siri Recap feature is completely optional and turned off by default. No audio recordings are stored at all; the process is limited to text processing and summaries without identifying the speakers, with automatic masking of sensitive financial and government data, in addition to an audible alert and a clear visual indicator when live transcription is active.
The Return of Ceramic, Premium Materials, and Welcome Price Stability
The most notable surprise that delighted users is that Apple maintained the same previous price levels despite the significant technical leaps. The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399 for the aluminum versions, available in black, space gray, dark bronze, and light gold.
For fans of premium materials, the beloved ceramic material returns in pearl white and midnight blue, starting at $899, while titanium versions are available in radiant gold and natural titanium starting at $699, noting that all ceramic and titanium models come with cellular connectivity as standard.
As for the Apple Watch Ultra 4, designed for harsh conditions and difficult sports, it has also maintained its usual price of $799 in natural and black titanium. Apple has already begun accepting pre-orders, and the watches will officially arrive in stores and in users’ hands on September 18.
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