GoKawiilThe Apple Watch Series 12 has arrived, and like clockwork, Apple unveiled its latest flagship smartwatch at its September launch event alongside the Apple Watch Ultra 4, new iPhone 18 models and the long-awaited foldable iPhone Duo. I got to test out the new Series 12 in the demo room and see its new features up close.
Apple may have kept the familiar Apple Watch design for another year, but it has seemingly changed everything else inside. The most important upgrades are the hardware that powers its new features: a new S11 processor and reengineered health sensors. Combined, they allow for higher heart rate accuracy, deeper recovery insights and a new AI-powered Audio Intelligence feature that can transcribe and save important conversations.
But perhaps the biggest surprise is what didn’t change: the price. While Apple raised prices on its iPhone 18 Pro lineup, the Series 12 still starts at $399, while the Ultra 4 starts at $799.
More processing power for Siri AI
Apple had ground to make up on processing power this year after using the S10 chip for two generations. The new S11 chip makes up for some lost time, with a faster GPU, CPU and neural engine.
One place that extra processing power could come in handy is WatchOS 27, which brings the new Siri AI to the Apple Watch. I’ve already been testing Siri AI in beta on the Ultra 3, and it’s miles ahead of traditional Siri. It can answer more complex and contextual questions, reference information in Apple’s native apps and generally avoid the frustrating “here’s what I found on the web” response that made traditional Siri feel especially limited on the wrist.
But I’ve also noticed some lag. Some of that could be because the software is still in beta, but I’m curious to see whether the new S11 chip speeds up those interactions on the Series 12.
The new processor could also help with battery life. Apple rates the Series 12 for the same 24 hours as the previous generation, but it’s now taking heart rate samples more frequently than before for increased accuracy and uses a separate always-one processor within the S11 chip for these types of tasks.
For context, the Series 11 lasted about 28 hours during my real-world testing, so I’ll be looking to see whether those gains translate outside Apple’s controlled testing.
Apple/CNET
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