Apple Watch Series 12
Pros & Cons
- Same $399 starting price, with no subscription required for health insights
- Longer battery life: About 30 hours in my testing (four more hours than Series 11)
- New health sensors enable more frequent heart rate and HRV readings
- S11 processor makes WatchOS 27 features like Siri AI feel faster and smoother
- Dynamic Readiness score adapts as your body recovers throughout the day
- Audio Intelligence features are still MIA, with privacy questions looming
- Battery life still requires frequent charging and trails longer-lasting competitors
- Sound Recognition produced frequent false alerts in my testing
- Familiar design gives Series 11 owners little reason to upgrade based on looks alone
- Readiness score requires seven nights of sleep and consistent, round-the-clock wear
Sitting in the Steve Jobs Theater and hearing about the new Apple Watch Series 12 was like riding a roller coaster, gripping my seat before every unexpected drop and thrill. Let’s just say a watch that listens to my conversations was not on my bingo card.
Given the lack of rumors around any substantial advancements, I was expecting an iterative (and slightly boring) update to Apple’s smartwatch lineup this year. Instead, we got one of the biggest and most surprising upgrades since its launch. There’s no crazy redesign (it looks identical on the surface to the Series 11), and there isn’t one blockbuster new health feature, such as ECG (electrocardiogram) or blood pressure monitoring, that stole the show. Rather, it’s a slew of changes across different categories that, taken together, could open up new ways to use the watch. Some are welcome, while others are downright disconcerting.
I’ve been testing the Apple Watch Series 12 for about a week, and while there’s still a lot I can’t test yet, including its controversial new Audio Intelligence features and the revamped Health app (both coming in future updates), I’ve already had plenty to dig into: a new processor, better battery life, upgraded health sensors and, in particular, its new Readiness (or recovery) score.
But my favorite thing about this Apple Watch may be what Apple didn’t change: the price. It’s one of the few Apple products that didn’t get a price hike this year, and none of its new health features are locked behind a subscription fee.
Shiny ceramic and colorful bands mask a familiar design
If Apple thinks some flashy new finishes and colorful bands will distract from the fact that the Apple Watch design has remained relatively unchanged over the years, then it would be absolutely right. There was an audible gasp followed by applause when Apple revealed the two new ceramic Series 12 models during the keynote, a style we haven’t seen since the Series 5 in 2019. Available in pearl white and night blue (navy), the ceramic models start at $899, more than twice the $399 price of the base aluminum model.
The aluminum models (42mm and 46mm) also come in a new dark bronze (my personal favorite) and light gold, which is the version I tested. Apple also added radiant gold and natural (silver-ish) titanium models, an Hermès edition and new bands in everything from bright fuchsia to earthy browns. It’s one of the most colorful Apple Watch lineups, with the widest array of options, that I’ve seen in a while.
The Series 12 also has a new ceramic coating on the front glass to help protect against cracks, in addition to the scratch-resistant coating introduced on the Series 11 (mine is still relatively scratch-free after a year). And like its predecessors, it’s dust-resistant and swimproof up to 50 meters.
New sensors unlock better health metrics
One of the biggest changes, and one reason I would advise existing Apple smartwatch wearers to upgrade, is the redesigned health sensor suite. Apple ran its own study comparing the Series 12 with top wearables, including Oura and Garmin, and concluded that it’s the most accurate wearable for heart rate tracking. That aligns with what we saw in our own testing earlier this year with the Series 11.
Flip over the Series 12 and Series 11 and you can easily spot the difference. The Series 11 has two electrodes for measuring the heart’s electrical signals via ECG, arranged in a doughnut shape around the watch’s outer edge. The Series 12 has 32 electrodes dispersed like flower petals from the center. It’s still a single-lead ECG — to measure, you close the loop between your wrist and finger when you press the Digital Crown — but the additional electrodes cover more surface area for more consistent readings with less noise.
Apple also redesigned the optical sensor. Smaller LEDs and photodiodes now cluster at the base of the electrode petals, creating a more efficient sensor that can measure heart rate every five seconds, even outside of workout mode, compared with every five minutes on previous models, without sacrificing battery life.
That gives the Series 12 a more complete picture of your heart rate throughout the day and night. During a three-mile run around my neighborhood, it tracked almost identically to my Polar H10 chest strap (the same one Apple used for its study), even though the Series 11 was already the most accurate in our earlier testing. But the bigger change happens outside of workouts: The Series 12 takes 60 times as many readings as before, even when you’re moving around.
I noticed the difference when I opened the Heart Rate app. The Series 12 displayed my heart rate in about half a second, while my Series 11 took at least five seconds to lock in. Heart rate feeds into other metrics such as calories, sleep and Vitals, so more frequent, accurate readings can improve the data behind them.
The new sensors also measure heart rate variability more frequently: up to every five minutes instead of every 2-4 hours on previous models. HRV is associated with recovery and your body’s response to stress, and it’s one of the main metrics behind the new Readiness score on the Series 12 and Ultra 4, which Apple pitched as a dynamic summary metric that conveys how your body might handle strenuous activity, such as a heavy workout.
A dynamic Readiness score could change the game
Apple is late to recovery metrics. Whoop, Garmin, Oura and Fitbit all have their own versions of a Readiness score. But Apple’s approach differs because the score can change throughout the day. (Garmin’s Body Battery works similarly.)
Many wearables give you a score in the morning based on metrics such as HRV, sleep, temperature and other overnight vitals, but since it’s static and delivered once a day, it can feel like a life sentence (and sometimes a self-fulfilling prophecy) rather than a training tool. The Apple Watch keeps measuring your daytime vitals and adjusts your Readiness score as the day unfolds and rates you from 0–10 with actionable advice including Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready and Go for It. In theory, you could see how a midmorning nap affects your score and adjust your workout accordingly.
Apple also gives you the data behind your Readiness score at no additional cost. Oura, for example, shows you a Readiness score without a subscription, but you’ll need to pay the $7/monthly fee to dig into what’s driving it and to see long-term trends.
The catch: You need seven full days and nights of wear to establish a baseline and unlock the feature, with at least four hours of sleep for each session to count. While I’ve technically had the watch for seven nights now, my first night came right after a marathon Apple event day when I worked late into the evening, followed by an early-morning interview that interrupted my sleep before I hit the four-hour mark. So I need one more night of sleep before I can unlock it.
Even then, the real test will be whether Readiness keeps up with how I feel throughout the day and can pick up on subtle signals of distress while I can still take action — before my body goes into complete disrepair during the inevitable flu season that ravages our home (thanks to my three school-aged Petri dishes). Other recovery scores have gaslit me into thinking I’m fine when I feel completely run down, and vice versa. But they’ve also validated what I’m feeling and nudged me to take a rest day when I truly needed one.
Battery life was an unexpected surprise
I had a little panic moment thinking I’d have to sacrifice battery life in exchange for round-the-clock heart rate and HRV readings. It seemed like the logical trade-off. But I didn’t have to. Apple made no mention of battery gains on the Series 12 (just the Ultra 4), so I was shocked when my watch blew past hour 24 and kept going, even after my Series 11 gave out at the 26-hour mark. In my first round of testing, which included a three-mile GPS-enabled outdoor run and one night of sleep tracking, the Series 12 lasted about 30 hours on a charge.
And yes, I’m aware that’s measly compared with dedicated sports watches from Garmin or even Huawei’s flagship smartwatches, which can easily last over a week on a charge. But it feels like a fair compromise for a watch that offers seamless compatibility with Apple’s ecosystem, and, based on our testing, a more accurate health tracker.
Apple also added Extended and Max Extended workout modes to stretch battery life during longer workouts by disabling nonessential features, such as secondary running metrics, alerts and splits. The Ultra 4 also gets these modes.
Another plus: charging speed. Like last year’s Series 11, the Series 12 can charge from zero to full in a little under an hour. But 15 minutes on the charger can now give you up to 12 hours of use, while five minutes can get you up to 10 hours of sleep tracking. As someone who can’t seem to break the habit of charging right before bed, that’s made a quick top-up on my nightstand a lot more realistic. You’ll need to use the cable included in the box to get those charging speeds.
Does this mean I almost never have a fully charged watch? Yes. I sneak in a mini charge here and there throughout the day, the way I quickly pilfer snacks from my pantry. Is it annoying? Also yes. But now that Readiness changes throughout the day, I have more incentive to wear the watch overnight.
The S11 chip is pulling double duty
Another reason Apple can pull off all that background sensing without tanking battery life is the new S11 chip. After using the same dual-core S10 chip for two consecutive years, Apple redesigned the architecture to divide work between its main processor and a more efficient always-on processor. The always-on processor handles tasks such as continuous health sensing, rather than waking the more power-hungry main processor every five seconds.
I hadn’t had a huge issue with the Series 11’s speed, but I noticed the difference when I put the two watches side by side, especially while testing Siri AI in watchOS 27. After one too many unhelpful “Here’s what I found on the web” responses (I’m not clicking on a website on my Apple Watch, thank you), I’d pretty much given up on Siri on the watch. But Siri AI is making me reconsider that by providing actual answers rather than Google search shortcuts. And speed will be a big factor in how much I use the new AI assistant.
Siri AI can handle more complex questions and follow-up requests without making you repeat the context. It can also search through Apple apps such as Messages and Mail for personal information. Instead of digging through the entire carpool moms text chain, I can ask Siri which kid I’m supposed to bring home and when. Full transparency: I would’ve ended up with the wrong kid had I followed Siri’s guidance, but the fact that it could keep up with the five different after-school schedules was impressive nonetheless.
Last year’s Series 11 may get many of the same WatchOS 27 features as the Series 12, but it’s still running on the two-year-old S10 chip, and as Apple brings more AI and background sensing to the watch, that processor will likely start to show its age.
More WatchOS 27 and a new Health app
Another WatchOS 27 feature I’ve been loving is the dynamic app grid, which floats your most used and relevant apps toward the top instead of making you scroll through the entire list to find what you want.
The Health app on your iPhone is also getting a major revamp later this year. A new Insights tab will dynamically surface what’s most relevant throughout the day, such as your sleep score, vitals and readiness (exclusive to Series 12 and Ultra 4) in the morning, then activity and workout information later in the day. Apple Intelligence will also generate summaries that connect the dots across your health data and flag insights you might otherwise miss.
Apple is also adding new ways to measure your health beyond the watch, including mobility tests that use the iPhone’s cameras to assess movement and estimate metrics, including VO2 max. You’ll also get a new “Health Age” estimate, which takes into account your health metrics to see how much faster (or slower) you’re aging compared to your chronological age.
Other wearable platforms already offer versions of many of these features, but none of Apple’s will be behind a paywall (regardless of what Apple Watch model you have).
Apple/Screenshot by CNET
Audio Intelligence: I’m still on the fence
But not every AI feature feels helpful, or welcome. The Series 12 is also getting Audio Intelligence, which essentially gives Siri ears to make sense of the sounds around you.
The more innocent use cases include faster Shazam and Sound Recognition, which can alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing to sounds such as a crying baby, barking dog or doorbell. You have to enable the feature under accessibility on your phone first. In my testing, it successfully identified my fake cough, the doorbell and the car horn. But then it spent the rest of the day gaslighting me, telling me there was a dog barking or a car honking when there clearly wasn’t, which made me question both my own reality and its listening range.
We start to drift into creepy territory during conversations. At any point during the day, Live Rewind lets you double-click the Digital Crown to pull up a text snippet of what was said in the previous 15 seconds, kind of like the audio version of Live Photos (which lets you see a few more seconds of the shot you captured).
Siri Recap can listen in the background while enabled and generate high-level summaries of conversations throughout your day.
To be fair, both features are opt-in. You can ignore them completely or control when Siri Recap listens. But since I still can’t test them, I have more questions than answers. What makes a conversation worth recapping? A meeting, sure. But if you leave it on all day, does that include an argument with your spouse? A gossip session with your bestie?
Which brings me to the elephant in the room: privacy.
Apple makes a convincing case for how it’s protecting privacy. The watch doesn’t save audio. It processes raw audio inside a hardware-isolated compartment on the S11 chip that Apple says even it can’t access. Siri Recap doesn’t send a full transcript to the cloud either; it condenses the text first, deletes the transcript and sends only that condensed version to its Private Cloud Compute.
Still, there’s something about explicitly giving the watch on my wrist the ability to listen to conversations that doesn’t sit right with me. Especially when those conversations involve other people who may have no idea it’s happening. There’s no indicator light that I know of to let you know when the watch is actively recapping, which is how people have discovered that Meta Ray Ban wearers have been recording video footage of them.
Maybe I’ll change my mind once I can actually test it. Apple has certainly given me reasons to trust how it protects data. I’m just not convinced yet that this is the intelligence I want my watch to have.
Apple Watch Series 12: Bottom line
For now, even without the Audio Intelligence features, and maybe in spite of them, there’s a lot to like about the Series 12. Top of the list are more robust health metrics, a longer battery and a smoother, more powerful processor that will essentially future-proof my device for more upgrades without slowing it down. And the fact that it’s giving me all these upgrades without yet another subscription fee is the icing on the cake.
But we still have a lot of unfinished business when it comes to the features still coming to the Apple Watch 12, which may end up making it a huge upgrade — or the most controversial Apple Watch to date. Maybe both.
