Image credit: Apple
Apple has announced the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 with two big changes. The first is a new S11 chip that powers a set of listening features Apple calls Audio Intelligence. While the second is a rebuilt set of heart sensors that feeds a readiness score and a Health Age figure, both of which will look familiar to anyone who has worn a WHOOP band. The Series 12 starts at $399 and the Ultra 4 at $799, both the same as last year, with pre-orders open now and the watches in stores Friday, September 18.
What Audio Intelligence does
The first of the listening features is Live Rewind. You can double-tap the Digital Crown and the watch will show you a text version of the last 15 seconds of whatever was said around you, which Apple says is for the book recommendation you didn't catch. Siri Recap can go further and listen through a whole conversation, then give you a short summary with a title and key points afterwards. Live Rewind and Siri Recap arrive as a beta later this year, in English first, and need an iPhone 16 or later with Siri AI turned on. Live Rewind and Siri Recap won't launch in the EU, where Siri AI itself isn't available at launch.
Image credit: Apple
Apple says the watch never creates or stores a recording. According to the company, the raw audio is processed in a sealed part of the S11 chip that even Apple can't access. You'll have to opt in before Live Rewind or Siri Recap will do anything, and you can switch them off from Control Center or put them on a schedule, for example, only during work hours and never at night. The watch also won't try to identify who is speaking. It's cool and creepy at the same time. Unless you're seriously worried about a device listening to you, though, I'd at least try it.
The cooler half of the always-listening features, in my opinion, is Sound Recognition. The watch will listen for sirens, alarms, doorbells, and a crying baby, then tap you on the wrist, with an on-device model doing the listening rather than the cloud. Apple built Sound Recognition for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and it doesn't need a newer iPhone like Live Rewind does. Shazam will also run faster on the S11, so you'll get faster song recognition.
How the new health features compare to WHOOP
On the health side, Apple has rebuilt the heart sensors into what it calls the Health Sensing System. The Series 12 and Ultra 4 will read your heart rate every five seconds and your heart rate variability up to 24 times more often than before, and Apple says a study of over 1,000 people against an ECG chest strap makes this the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable. Apple uses those readings for a new readiness score. Each morning the watch will combine your recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep into one of four directives: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It. Apple will release a redesigned Health app later this year, with a Longevity tab that shows a Health Age figure based on how your metrics compare to your actual age, and in the US you'll be able to order a Quest blood panel of over 50 biomarkers for $119 and see the results in the same app.
Image credit: Apple
WHOOP has the same set of ideas under different names. Readiness is WHOOP's Recovery with four states instead of three colors. Training load plus readiness is what WHOOP calls Strain. Health Age is WHOOP Age under another name, and the blood panel is WHOOP's lab-work idea as a one-off purchase. The big difference is how much it will cost you. WHOOP costs $199 to $359 a year, and the band will stop working when you stop paying. You get Apple's version included with the $399 watch.
I'm 660 days into WHOOP now, and I wouldn't replace it with a Series 12. A band with no screen is a huge thing for me, and so is the weight. For Apple Watch fans, though, the Series 12 is the next best option. Apple is pretty good with data, so I'd expect the accuracy to hold up, which might make the Series 12 the best WHOOP alternative that doesn't need a subscription. My take on Health Age is the same as on WHOOP Age. Health Age is a solid metric to track, but you shouldn't let it define too much of your life or your fitness journey.
Read More: 570 days with WHOOP: How this screenless band transformed my health
Design, battery, and should you upgrade?
The Series 12 comes in 42mm and 46mm sizes in dark bronze, black, light gold, and space gray in aluminum, radiant gold and natural in titanium, and pearl white and night blue in a new ceramic version. The aluminum models get Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple says is 60 percent tougher than the glass on the Series 11. Apple is still promising 24 hours of battery life, with 10 hours of outdoor workout tracking, and you'll now get 12 hours of use from a 15-minute charge. Apple rates the Ultra 4 at over two days, with a Max Extended Workout mode that will run for 45 hours.
Apple is keeping the price at $399, the same as last year, which is excellent given the price of everything else is trending upwards this year. If you're on a Series 10 or 11, you can skip the Series 12. Anyone on an older watch will feel the upgrade, mostly through the new sensors and the readiness score that comes with them.
Read More: Google's $99 Fitbit Air challenges WHOOP without the subscription
