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Apple Launches Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 with Enhanced Health Features
Confirmed
In Short: Apple has unveiled the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, featuring a new Health Sensing System and more accurate heart rate monitoring.
Apple has launched the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, marking a significant upgrade in health monitoring capabilities. According to reports, these new watches can take heart rate variability (HRV) measurements up to 24 times more frequently than their predecessors, providing users with more detailed health insights.
The new Health Sensing System includes redesigned photodiodes organized in a ring to capture light more efficiently and a larger electrode surface area for better skin contact. This system, alongside the new S11 chip, allows the watches to deliver higher-frequency heart rate and HRV measurements than prior Apple Watches.
Apple claims that the new wearables have the most accurate heart rate sensing in any wearable based on a study involving over 1,000 participants. The new Watches will also introduce 'readiness' scores, which analyze a user's recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep score to offer insight into their capacity for the day ahead on a scale from 0 to 10.
Both the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 will use the new S11 chip, enhancing their performance and accuracy. The Ultra 4, in particular, is designed to provide users with a more comprehensive view of their health status through features like overnight vitals and daytime vitals views. These views can potentially spot shifts in metrics before they show up overnight.
Apple is also incorporating more Apple Intelligence-based features into the new watches, including movement evaluations that measure flexibility, strength, balance, and more using vision-based AI models on iPhone and heart rate data from Apple Watch. Users will be able to schedule and purchase new labs that feature over 50 key biomarkers for $119 directly through the Health app at approximately 2,000 Quest Diagnostics locations in the US.
The Apple Watch Series 12 pairs a smaller display with a wider case than Series 10 and Series 11, even though the pixel resolution hasn't changed. The 46mm Series 12, for instance, has a display area of 1,196 sq mm, down 2% from 1,220 sq mm on Series 10 and Series 11. The case footprint has increased by roughly 2.6%, making the borders around the display look larger.
The new watches will start at $399 and launch on September 18, with the 46mm Series 12 featuring a case that is 1mm wider than the 46mm by 39mm by 9.7mm case on Series 10 and Series 11. Apple has also tweaked the design of the Series 12 to recede the casing and expand the front glass, which makes the borders look even larger. This design change is similar to the shift seen in the Series 10 when it replaced Series 9 in 2024.
What's confirmed
- Apple has launched the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, marking a significant upgrade in health monitoring capabilities. According to reports, these new watches can take heart rate variability (HRV) measurements up to 24 times more frequently than their predecessors, providing users with more detailed health insights.
- The new Health Sensing System includes redesigned photodiodes organized in a ring to capture light more efficiently and a larger electrode surface area for better skin contact. This system, alongside the new S11 chip, allows the watches to deliver higher-frequency heart rate and HRV measurements than prior Apple Watches.
- Apple claims that the new wearables have the most accurate heart rate sensing in any wearable based on a study involving over 1,000 participants. The new Watches will also introduce 'readiness' scores, which analyze a user's recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep score to offer insight into their capacity for the day ahead on a scale from 0 to 10.
- Both the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 will use the new S11 chip, enhancing their performance and accuracy. The Ultra 4, in particular, is designed to provide users with a more comprehensive view of their health status through features like overnight vitals and daytime vitals views. These views can potentially spot shifts in metrics before they show up overnight.
- Apple is also incorporating more Apple Intelligence-based features into the new watches, including movement evaluations that measure flexibility, strength, balance, and more using vision-based AI models on iPhone and heart rate data from Apple Watch. Users will be able to schedule and purchase new labs that feature over 50 key biomarkers for $119 directly through the Health app at approximately 2,000 Quest Diagnostics locations in the US.
- The Apple Watch Series 12 pairs a smaller display with a wider case than Series 10 and Series 11, even though the pixel resolution hasn't changed. The 46mm Series 12, for instance, has a display area of 1,196 sq mm, down 2% from 1,220 sq mm on Series 10 and Series 11. The case footprint has increased by roughly 2.6%, making the borders around the display look larger.
- The new watches will start at $399 and launch on September 18, with the 46mm Series 12 featuring a case that is 1mm wider than the 46mm by 39mm by 9.7mm case on Series 10 and Series 11. Apple has also tweaked the design of the Series 12 to recede the casing and expand the front glass, which makes the borders look even larger. This design change is similar to the shift seen in the Series 10 when it replaced Series 9 in 2024.
What's still developing
- Apple is skipping the base iPhone, so there’s no iPhone 18 to be found (it’s likely to launch in March 2027, according to leaks).
- The iPhone 18 Pro starts at a higher $1,199 price tag for its 256GB option, marking a $100 increase over the same variant on the iPhone 17 Pro.
- Apple started using a vapor chamber on the last generation iPhone Pros, and with the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, it’s improving on the design and size for better cooling performance.
- For this generation, Apple is placing the silicon die side by side with the memory, removing the memory from the chip’s thermal path, and allowing the new A20 Pro (more on this below) to attach directly to the vapor chamber.
- Apple is adopting a simpler variable-aperture setup that switches between four preset levels (f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, f/4).
- The iPhone 18 Pro series is a refinement over the iPhone 17 Pro series, with new features like a variable aperture on the main camera, something that Android experimented with years ago!
- For the 46mm Series 12, Apple's tech specs page lists the display area at 1,196 sq mm, down 2% from 1,220 sq mm on Series 10 and Series 11.