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Apple Watch Series 12 Review: Finally, a Readiness Score (2026)
Confirmed
In Short: Apple's new watches feature a Readiness score and improved heart rate sensors, among other upgrades.
Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, both featuring enhanced health and fitness capabilities. The new models are equipped with a Readiness score, which combines recent activity and vitals into a single 0-10 number, offering personalized recommendations like 'Recover,' 'Pace Yourself,' 'Ready,' or 'Go For It.
The Series 12 and Ultra 4 also boast a new optical heart rate sensor and an updated Health Sensing System, which measures heart rate every five seconds throughout the day. This system is backed by an Apple study involving 1,400 participants, including those wearing competitor watches.
The Series 12 starts at $399, while the Ultra 4 starts at $799, the same prices as last year. Pre-orders are now open, with the watches set to hit stores on September 18.
Apple also introduced a redesigned Health app with a Longevity tab that calculates a Health Age figure based on users' health metrics. Additionally, the company plans to release a Health app update later this year, allowing users to order a Quest blood panel and view results within the app.
What's confirmed
- But probably the most notable thing about both the Ultra 4 and the new Series 12 (which both my wife and I are also testing) is that new optical HR sensor, which is backed by an Apple study involving 1,400 people, including the majority of whom were dual-wristing other competitor watches.
- The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is arguably the biggest internal update the Apple Watch has seen in a number of years, and certainly the biggest Apple Watch Ultra series update since launch.
- It has a far better optical heart rate sensor than in the past, new audio intelligence features, and even a brand-new Readiness score system built atop all of that.
- Plus, there are promises of further new features later this year with a new Apple Health app that’s consumer-friendly, as well as more audio intelligence features.
- Apple has announced the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 with two big changes.
What's still developing
- In this post (and the above video), I’m going to dive into some of those claims in that Apple-backed paper, and most critically, whether they stand up to real-life scrutiny out on the road (and trails, and gyms).
- There’s a lot new in this unit, and I’m going to cover virtually all the new features throughout this review.
- Obviously, given the wide-ranging capabilities of the Apple Watch as a smartwatch, there’s far more that I’m not going to cover here (such as music storage/playback, contactless payments, 3rd-party apps, etc…).
- These largely haven’t changed this time around, save for the handful of new Audio Intelligence features that I mention later in the review.
- With that, the first thing you probably already know is that the Apple Watch Ultra 4 requires an iPhone be paired with it.
- The watchOS 27 update, first announced at WWDC in June and finally available to consumers, gives the Apple Watch a cleaner, streamlined interface that positions Siri AI at the center of the user experience.
- The ceramic feels more like a fashionable move rather than a functional one, but Apple is following a trend seen across brands like Oura.
- But after a week of wearing it day and night, I noticed that the Series 12 feels more intuitive, putting fewer steps between me and the information I need from my everyday smartwatch.