Overview
- Preorders for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 began Wednesday, Sept. 9, and both models will be available starting Sept. 18 with unchanged U.S. starting prices of $399 for Series 12 and $799 for Ultra 4.
- Both models use the new S11 system chip and redesigned Health Sensing System that measures heart rate about every five seconds and samples heart‑rate variability much more often to deliver what Apple calls the most accurate heart‑rate tracking in a wearable.
- Readiness is a new daily recovery feature that analyzes recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep to give a 0–10 score plus clear recommendations such as Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It.
- Apple introduced Audio Intelligence features — Live Rewind, Siri Recap, and Sound Recognition — that generate short transcripts, summaries, and sound alerts with Apple saying raw audio is processed on‑device and not stored; Siri Recap and some audio features will roll out in beta later this year.
- The Ultra 4 boosts battery life to up to 50 hours in normal use and 84 hours in Low Power Mode while Series 12 adds ceramic and polished titanium finishes; the launch reinforces Apple’s move toward recovery metrics and on‑device AI but also leaves some leak claims such as a reported 128GB storage option unconfirmed and likely to attract privacy and regulatory attention.