Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 12 at its Surprise and Shine event, featuring the new S11 chip for more frequent health sensor readings and AI features, while maintaining the same $399 starting price and 24-hour battery life as the Series 11. The Series 12 is virtually identical in design to its predecessor but adds a ceramic case option and improved sensor placement; it begins shipping September 18.
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 features a redesigned sensor array with 32 electrodes and a new S11 processor that enable heart-rate readings every 5 seconds (versus every 5 minutes previously) and introduce new health features like Readiness scores and Daytime vitals tracking. The watch also gains AI-powered audio tools including Live Rewind and Siri Recap for conversation transcription and summarization. Battery life improves to approximately 50 hours, up from 42 hours on the Ultra 3.