Another year, another generation of the Apple Watch. Like last year’s Series 11 and Ultra 3, things have largely stayed the same. That said, there are still a few major under-the-hood updates and some new aesthetic changes, but we’re still carrying over the Apple Watch’s subtle tenth-anniversary redesign from a few years ago, so the familiar dimensions remain. That also holds true for the Ultra 4. Across the board, the main improvements come in a new, more powerful chip and a vastly improved health sensor equipped on the back of each watch.
With iterative improvements like this in the yearly refresh cycle, this new generation offers a solid upgrade for those coming from several versions back, and less of a temptation for those fresh off last year’s models. But there will always be those who avidly find every chance to upgrade to the next year’s latest and greatest—Apple’s got you covered with some fun additions, too.
<img src="https://comicvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/tan2h-apple-watch-series12-02810-compressed.jpg" alt="Apple Watch Series 12 Ceramics Duo”>
46mm Night Blue (left) and 42mm Pearl White (right) ceramics.
To me, the most exciting news from this year’s Apple Watch announcements was the return of ceramic as a case material. Titanium is cool and all, especially since all the latest titanium cases since last year have been 3D-printed, but there’s something a little nerdier about an Apple Watch in ceramic.
Apple introduced ceramic on the Apple Watch as early as the Series 3 in 2017. I was a happy owner of a 2019 Series 5 Apple Watch Edition in white ceramic, so my interest has naturally gravitated towards the similar model in the new lineup. In this revival, Apple has introduced two different shades—Pearl White and Night Blue. The names of the ceramic colors speak for themselves, with this Pearl White ceramic shade offering an ever-so-slightly warmer hue compared to its stark white Series 5 predecessor, and Night Blue offering an extremely glossy dark blue that looks rather dark and almost black indoors, until you bring it outside and the deep navy reveals itself.
My favorite here is for sure the Pearl White shade, which generally shows fewer fingerprints and less grime than the deep blue ceramic and polished titanium models. But the shade of Night Blue is very nice-looking, with a hue that’s reminiscent of Chanel’s blue ceramic and Audemars Piguet’s “Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50” ceramic, if not just a touch darker. The Apple Watch, of course, is rendered in a fully polished ceramic case with no faceting, brushing, or the like. But it has an excellent fit and finish, especially considering the significantly lower price point of this Series 12 compared to any of the watches from the two brands above. Apples (with a capital A) and oranges, I know, but I’ll admit that in the way the Apple Watch integrates into my lifestyle, it’s nice to scratch the itch of having something in ceramic.
This time, Apple has added a few steps to the ceramic manufacturing process, including new heat-soak stages that increase hardness after initial compression molding and sintering. While we tend to be concerned about the brittleness of ceramic on conventional watches, Apple seems to be confident in subjecting the ceramic cases to the same durability and drop tests used across the rest of the line, so it should be less of a concern in everyday active use.
The most welcome change compared to past ceramic editions is the removal of the red accents on the crown of the watch. If you might recall, the red on the crown used to signify an Apple Watch with cellular capability. On the Series 3, the red took up the entire top of the crown, while the Series 5 went a bit more subtle with just a thin ring—I liked neither. This time around, the lack of red on the polished silver top of the crown works significantly better with both ceramics for a cleaner look.
On the wrist, the watches look the same as the others since the Series 10 redesign. The ceramic versions are technically thicker than the other Series 12 models, at 9.85mm tall compared to 9.7mm, but the difference is imperceptible. While I tend to gravitate towards the larger 46mm sizing despite my smaller 6.5″ wrists, I actually had a chance to spend time with one in 42mm this time around, for the first time in this generation of case design. And I’ll say, the 42mm feels quite unobtrusive and comfortable on the wrist. Measuring with calipers across the width of the case, I got a measurement of 35.8mm. The span of the larger 46mm case, according to my calipers, hits around 38.8mm. Factor in the psychological size increase from a rectangular silhouette, and you can imagine how that might compare to a conventional, round watch design on your wrist. This might be the first year I consistently wear a smaller Apple Watch, even if the extra display real estate from the larger model is still nicer to have.
The smaller 42mm Apple Watch Series 12 on my wrist.
What’s rather interesting is that the ceramic Series 12 models have been introduced at a much lower price point than we’ve seen in the past, starting at $899 for the smaller 42mm version and $949 for the larger 46mm size. Back in 2019, the white ceramic Apple Watch Edition retailed starting at $1,299, when the steel versions retailed starting at $699. Today, the titanium Series 12 sits at that $699 price point, so the ceramic offering comes in at a significantly lower markup. It’s certainly a nice change to see and makes the ceramic options all the more tempting, even if it still sits at the top of the Series 12 range. And lord knows we won’t see a pricing change like this on a Swiss watch.
On another note, I believe this also marks the end of the “Apple Watch Edition” naming convention, which, funny enough, once encompassed both titanium and ceramic Apple Watches. Most people will remember the Edition branding on the very first generation of Apple Watch, with its headline-stirring solid gold Apple Watch priced at over $10,000. Back then, it was an attempt to position the Apple Watch up there on the same playing field as luxury watches. As the Apple Watch becomes more ubiquitous globally and far surpasses conventional watches in adoption, I think they’re far less concerned with that notion. Or, perhaps they’re saving the Edition moniker for an even more exotic material down the line.
The base-level Series 12 in aluminum gets a few new colors this year, but the most intriguing one from the announcement was the new Dark Bronze. I’ll be honest—a brown Apple Watch did not seem all that appealing to own. I get the idea of the new light gold anodized aluminum, but I was incredibly skeptical of this darker shade. But I think I sort of get it now that I’ve spent some time with it in person.
It’s like a space grey Apple Watch, but with the warmth slider all the way up, and a compelling option for those sick and tired of monochromatic hues ranging from silver to black. I suppose the color is exactly what it says on the box—like a well-aged bronze-cased watch, with none of the uneven patina and zero risk of turning your wrist green. Apple has also introduced a new “matching” stainless steel Milanese Loop in dark brown. While the Milanese Loop has always been a fan-favorite bracelet design, it’s harder for me to fully appreciate it here, as mixing metals on watches remains a pet peeve of mine. Then again, given that the Milanese Loops are in stainless steel and there are no steel Apple Watches in the lineup, this was always going to be a losing battle on my end.
What’s more important is that the aluminum Apple Watches get Ceramic Shield 2. It’s not the sapphire crystal that comes with the titanium or ceramic models, but Apple says it’s 60 percent tougher than the Ion-X glass on previous aluminum designs. I still prefer sapphire crystal for its scratch resistance—if the Ceramic Shield 2 is anything like my iPhone 17 Pro with the same material, the new glass will be quite resistant to shattering but will still scratch over time.
There’s not much new with the Ultra 4, except for a major change I’ll cover below that now comes to every Apple Watch in this generation: the new, more powerful S11 chip and the new Health Sensing Suite. From an external hardware perspective, the Ultra 4 looks and feels much like the Ultra 3. The finishes are still the same: the Natural titanium finish and a DLC-coated Black option, and the cases are still 3D printed out of 100% recycled titanium.
The most important change, especially for those considering an upgrade after a few generations, is the continued improvement in battery life. Last year’s Ultra 3 brought battery life from 36 hours to 42 hours, and this year’s Ultra 4 offers an impressive 50 hours. As I noted in my hands-on with last year’s Ultra 3, I never worried about its battery life, and improved longevity is all the better.
And even though the Series 12 models have also gained efficiency (faster charging means 15 minutes gives back 12 hours of battery life even if battery life is unchanged), the Apple Watch Ultra 4’s power reserve feels even more apparent as I’ve been switching back and forth between them. On the Ultra 4, 15 minutes of fast charging gets you 18 more hours of usage.
Most of the real, tangible improvement in the Series 12 and Ultra 4 comes from the new Health Sensing Suite, which is the new sensor hardware on the caseback of both models and pairs with the new S11 Chip. As Apple Watches have cemented themselves in the lives of so many people around the world (including many watch collectors I know) because of their fleshed-out health-sensing functionality, this stuff is rather unglamorous but probably the most important part of the new generation. Yes, I can talk about fun shiny ceramic all day, but this is what actually makes a difference to the product and to many people’s everyday lives.
The new sensor array on the back of the Series 12 and Ultra 4.
At a high level, this sensor system is the most accurate one that Apple has ever produced, and Apple claims that this is now the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable, based on large tests that they’ve conducted comparing the new Apple Watches to chest ECGs, other smartwatches on the market, and even stuff that you’ll see many die-hard watch collectors wear, like the Oura Ring and Whoop bands.
A lot is happening behind the scenes, including more efficient LEDs and a rearranged array of photodiodes on the back, but for the owner, it means high-frequency heart rate tracking. Apple Watches used to take your background heart rate once every five minutes, but on the new generation, it reads it every five seconds. That’s a huge change and captures more of the nuance in your everyday movement and activities. Every time I slightly lift up a Series 12 from my wrist, I can count on seeing the flashing green LEDs at work, measuring my heart rate.
The heart rate complication is much more frequently updated in the new generation.
In everyday life with the Apple Watch, I’ll admit it is quite nice to have heart rate readings as a complication on the faces I use (Exactograph remains my favorite), since it feels much more on-demand and live than before. Even though Apple has been quite good at letting people dig deep into their health metrics on the Health app, a new Readiness app on the watch takes all of your—movement, vitals, and sleep tracking—and summarizes it all in a “readiness score” that shows if you should be more aware of your body’s stress, or if it’s fully charged and ready to go. It’s more digestible every day than looking at all your metrics separately, and I’m sure many will appreciate this new functionality.
Many of the other features announced for the new slate of watches aren’t ready to deploy yet and will arrive later in the year, well after these new models go on sale. That includes, on the iPhone side, the redesigned Health app that takes advantage of improved sensor tracking and aggregates it into new insights. But the biggest one by far is the new Audio Intelligence features, which has stirred the most controversy online and also at the Hodinkee office.
It’s certainly timing—in an era of general paranoia and fatigue over the fear that devices are always listening to every conversation, the introduction of the (technically impressive) suite of features feels a bit off. Right now, its abilities are a little more innocuous, with its constant audio processing showing up as a Shazam that works much faster than before and can usually deliver the currently playing song before you’ve even thought to ask about it.
But the part that we’ve all been talking about is the upcoming Siri Recap feature (and to an extent, Live Rewind). If you’re not familiar, Live Rewind lets you double-click the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch to get a text summary of the last 15 seconds of the current conversation. But Siri Recap takes that idea and applies it to your entire day, constantly taking notes throughout your day between work, dinners, and more.
Sound recognition.
Look, Apple knows that this will raise certain alarm bells when it comes to the idea of privacy, as the teams have worked hard to sell the features on a privacy-focused execution: no recordings are stored, with audio only processed in the secure exclave of the new S11 chip at the time of speech, and Recaps do not provide speaker attribution or identification. And yes, I think there are hugely impressive implications for accessibility here, especially for those hard of hearing.
But what remains to be seen is whether the public will feel general discomfort when you’re having a confidential conversation with someone wearing an Apple Watch. The idea that it’s only capturing what would have been overheard by the person wearing the Apple Watch is technically true, but there is still quite a psychological difference between telling someone something and having it written down—my words would certainly be more carefully chosen if I were talking to someone writing down what I was saying on a notepad.
Given that I can’t try out this functionality right now, I also can’t say what the reach of the recording is—will someone at the table next to me at a restaurant, wearing an Apple Watch, inadvertently stumble into a recap of the conversation I’m having at mine? It’s not that I’m questioning Apple’s implementation, which I think they’ve handled quite well. It’s that I’m not sure most people wanted this stuff on an Apple Watch at all.
Funny enough, I think rolling out this functionality has created a stronger reason for the Apple Watch and traditional watches to coexist in someone’s lifestyle. As privacy becomes more of a sticking point for the general public, there may come a time when wearing a traditional watch signals that someone can be trusted more with confidential conversations.
Perhaps more and more office settings will have new guidelines on always-recording devices, and it will become much easier for many to just wear a Seiko 5 or Speedmaster instead. Of course, this all depends on how Apple’s implementations of these new listening features actually play out in the real world, and that means we’ll have to wait and see. Time will tell, but I’ll certainly be paying attention.
Overall, the newest generation of Apple Watches, from the Series 12 to the Ultra 4, represents the top-of-the-line execution of what a modern digital watch can be on the wrist. Apple continues to deliver a top-notch fit and finish, thanks to its ability to manage precision manufacturing at scale, which offers an insightful perspective on the world of watchmaking we mostly immerse ourselves in. That’s also why I’ve been fascinated by the Apple Watch since the first one, and why I still try to integrate one into my life despite wearing mechanical watches most of the time.
As I noted in my introduction, we’re at a point where the product line feels rather mature, so each year brings less shock and awe than the major generational changes of the early years. Regardless, there’s still a lot to like and consider here, especially with the brand experimenting with new finishes and bringing back ceramic at an even more aggressive price point. Most importantly, the major improvements towards health tracking represent the biggest hold the Apple Watch has on the public, even those who wear a traditional watch most of the time. Year after year, the Apple Watch continues to make a convincing argument for why it should be an essential part of your life, beyond just telling the time. Will I double wrist anytime soon? Most definitely not. But I can’t lie and say that I’ve thought about it more than I ever have.
