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Apple Unveils New Apple Watch Series 12 with Enhanced Health Features
Developing
In Short: Apple has announced the release of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, featuring improved health monitoring capabilities and a redesigned case.
Apple has unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, which come with enhanced health monitoring features and a redesigned case. According to reports, the 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 Apple Watches include a 'Health Sensing System' and the S11 chip, which Apple claims deliver the 'most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable.' The devices can now measure heart rate every five seconds, thanks to larger and more power-efficient green LEDs on the optical heart sensor. Additionally, the watches will introduce 'readiness' scores, which analyze a user's recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep score to offer insights into their capacity for the day ahead.
Apple has also integrated more Apple Intelligence-based features into the new watches, enhancing their overall functionality. The Health app will be updated later this year to include a new 'Health Age' score, which analyzes a user's health data to provide a personalized health assessment. 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.
Despite the improvements in health monitoring, the new Apple Watch Series 12 pairs a smaller display with a wider case than the Series 10 and Series 11, even though the pixel resolution hasn't changed. The 46mm Series 12 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. Apple has also tweaked the design to recede the casing and expand the front glass, which further emphasizes the larger borders.
The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399 and will launch on September 18. The new watches are expected to offer users a more comprehensive view of their health status, with features like overnight vitals, daytime vitals, and new movement evaluations that measure flexibility, strength, and balance using vision-based AI models on iPhone and heart rate data from Apple Watch.
What's still developing
- “Overnight vitals now includes recovery HRV measurements analyzed against a user’s personal baseline, providing a more complete view of their health status. A new daytime vitals view lets users toggle between overnight and daytime metrics, and can potentially spot shifts in their metrics before they show up overnight,” Apple said in a press release.
- 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.
- Series 10 went through a similar shift when it replaced Series 9 in 2024, growing the case around the display.
Sources
- MacRumorslink