GoKawiil
Tech News
After several days testing the Apple Watch Series 12, a reviewer highlights the new S11 chip as a major speed boost, especially noting Siri now runs smoothly under watchOS 27. The device also gains new health complications—Heart Rate, Daily Steps, and Readiness—thanks to an updated Health Sensing System, plus quicker charging that delivers up to 12 hours of battery from just 15 minutes on the charger.
Apple's Series 12 smartwatch introduces a single-tap hand gesture for navigating Smart Stack widgets alongside existing double-tap and wrist-flick controls. It also debuts a new Health Sensing System with 32 ECG electrodes, ring-arranged photodiodes, and larger LEDs, enabling heart rate readings every five seconds and HRV readings every five minutes, up from every five minutes and two hours respectively on Series 11. The new S11 chip also improves step-tracking accuracy and adds a real-time Steps complication to the watch face.
Apple Watch Series 12 keeps the same 42mm and 46mm display sizes as Series 10 and 11, but its case width has grown by about 1mm, which Apple did not mention at launch. That extra case size without a corresponding display increase means the new watch has noticeably thicker bezels than its predecessors.
Apple has unveiled the Watch Series 12, updating the aluminum casing with a Dark Bronze finish and tougher Ceramic Shield 2 glass, while adding a new Ceramic case option in Pearl White and Night Blue. The device also gains a faster S11 chip, double the RAM at 4GB, and a redesigned 'Health Sensing System' with improved heart rate tracking through a second-generation electrical sensor and always-on optical sensor.
Apple's new Ultra 4 keeps the same design as Ultra 3 but adds a new S11 chip, doubles RAM to 4GB, and introduces a redesigned Health Sensing System with upgraded heart rate and HRV tracking. New features include high-frequency background heart rate monitoring, a heart rate watch face complication, more frequent HRV readings, a new Recovery HRV metric, and more accurate real-time step tracking.
Apple's Audio Intelligence suite on the Watch Series 12 introduces Live Rewind, which captures the last 15 seconds of nearby audio via a double-press of the Digital Crown, transcribes it on a paired iPhone, and discards the raw audio. A companion feature, Siri Recap, generates AI-written summaries of conversations heard throughout the day. Apple says an audible chime and on-screen animation alert people nearby, but does not obtain explicit consent from every speaker captured.
Data from Xcode 27 reveals that Apple's new Watch Ultra 4 and Series 12 both ship with 4GB of RAM, twice the 2GB found in last year's Ultra 3 and Series 11. Apple did not disclose this memory increase in its official announcements, and the discovery came from developer tools rather than Apple's own specs pages.
Apple has begun accepting preorders for its Series 12 and Ultra 4 smartwatches, both powered by the new S11 chip with upgraded audio and sensor features. The Series 12 starts at $399 for the 42mm model, with a ceramic case option returning for the first time since the Series 5 at $899, while the Ultra 4 starts at $799 with GPS and 5G support. Both devices, available through Apple, Amazon, and Best Buy, ship September 18th alongside the iPhone 18 Pro line.
Apple's Series 12 Watch, running the new S11 chip, introduces Audio Intelligence, a suite of microphone-based features including sound recognition, Live Rewind, Siri Recap and Shazam integration. The tools let wearers replay the last 15 seconds of speech, get automatic conversation summaries, and receive alerts for sounds like alarms or crying babies, even without an iPhone nearby.
Apple unveiled the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, both built around a new S11 chip and a redesigned Health Sensing System aimed at improving heart rate and heart rate variability tracking. The system uses ring-arranged photodiodes, larger electrodes, and bigger, more efficient green LEDs to measure heart rate every five seconds, with HRV readings taken up to 24 times more often than before. Preorders for both models are now open.
Apple introduced the Watch Series 12 alongside the Ultra 4, iPhone 18 lineup and a foldable iPhone Duo, keeping the smartwatch's exterior design unchanged while overhauling its internals. The update centers on a new S11 processor and redesigned health sensors that improve heart rate accuracy, add deeper recovery tracking, and enable an AI-powered Audio Intelligence feature for transcribing conversations. Despite the upgrades, pricing stays flat at $399 for the Series 12 and $799 for the Ultra 4, even as iPhone 18 Pro prices rose.
Apple introduced the Watch Series 12 at its September event, retaining last year's design but overhauling internals with a new S11 chip and upgraded health sensors. The device gains features like more accurate heart rate tracking, deeper recovery data, and an AI-powered Audio Intelligence tool that can record, transcribe and save conversations. Despite these upgrades and new colors, Apple held the starting price at $399, while the Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799.