watchOS 27 removes the double-click Digital Crown shortcut for app switching on older Apple Watch models to make room for Live Rewind, a new 15-second audio transcript feature exclusive to Series 12 and Ultra 4. Older watches now open a dynamic app grid with the same gesture, disappointing users who relied on the quick multitasking feature.
Apple has released watchOS 27 with major updates including Siri AI, new Health features, a Siri modular watch face, and Tap gesture navigation. The update drops support for older Apple Watch models and brings improved performance through bug fixes and battery optimization.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 features a new S11 chip with doubled RAM, an upgraded Health Sensing System with improved heart rate and HRV tracking, and extended battery life reaching 50 hours versus Ultra 3's 42 hours. New exclusive features include a Readiness app for daily fitness capacity analysis and Audio Intelligence capabilities like Sound Recognition and Live Rewind.
Apple's new Watch Ultra 4 and Series 12 models feature double the RAM of their predecessors—4GB compared to 2GB—a significant upgrade not mentioned in Apple's official announcement. The discovery was revealed through Xcode 27 analysis, as Apple typically doesn't publish memory specifications for its Watch devices.
Apple released release candidate versions of iPadOS 27, watchOS 27, macOS Golden Gate, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and iOS 27 following its September event, with full availability to all users beginning Monday, September 14. The RC builds represent the final shipping software, though critical issues may prompt RC 2 releases. New features unveiled at the event, particularly for watchOS 27, are now available for developer and public beta tester testing.