The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, launching on 18 September, come with numerous new features. The S11 chip and AI features enhance voice recognition, summarization and Shazam integration, while increasing the frequency of health-data collection.
The new Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 both feature the S11 chip and introduce the Audio Intelligence suite of voice-related AI features. Sound recognition can detect and notify users of sirens, crying babies and doorbells, among other sounds, while music playing nearby can now be identified and displayed through Shazam integration.
Among the latest planned features are Live Rewind, which transcribes the previous 15 seconds of a conversation when the Digital Crown is double-clicked, and Siri Recap, which summarizes the key points of everyday conversations. The timing of Japanese-language support has not yet been determined.
Health-management features benefit from higher-resolution data enabled by improvements to the green LEDs and sensors. Background measurements will be taken every 5 seconds instead of every 5 minutes, while HRV measurement frequency will increase by up to 24 times, enabling measurements at intervals as short as 5 minutes.
A new Readiness feature will aggregate recent activity, vital signs and sleep analysis to present a daily wellness indicator in the morning. In Japan, high-frequency heart-rate and HRV data collection has been available since the launch of the previous models, but Japanese-language support for Live Rewind and Siri Recap has not yet been determined.