GoKawiilApple will announce the new Apple Watch lineup later today, and Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has the early scoop. He reports that the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 will include a new AI feature that ambiently listens to the microphone, GPS, and uses other sensor data, to generate daily recaps of what you did, including conversation summaries.
Gurman says the feature does not store audio recordings, and can be controlled to run all day long, or only when at certain locations. and generated Recaps will be stored inside the new Siri app.
This brings the Watch directly into contention with recent AI wearable initiatives from other companies, that try to serve as an intimately personal assistant to log summaries, memories and suggestions.
The idea is that users don’t have to write as much stuff down manually; their AI will remember automatically on their behalf. You will then presumably be able to use the new Siri AI personal context features to ask about what you did or follow-up on some things.
It’s a clever idea, although obviously many consumers are nervous about a proliferation of always-listening devices. The feature will be opt-in and obviously, Apple will tout its stringent privacy-preserving implementation compared to the competition. Apple’s version will not actually store audio recordings, nor will it present a transcript of conversations.
Bloomberg indicates the feature will require the last-generation watches, which will include new chips that can securely process the incoming audio samples.
The new Apple event starts at 10 AM Pacific Time today. As well as the new Apple Watches, the big announcement will be the foldable iPhone, iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro and other announcements. Stay tuned to 9to5Mac for coverage of all the announcements.