Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4: New health sensor, a readiness score and a lower price
Key takeaways
- Apple has announced the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, both built around a new Health Sensing System that Apple says delivers the most accurate heart rate tracking of any wearable.
- The Watch Series 12 starts at $649 and the Ultra 4 at $1,349. You can pre-order both now, and they go on sale on Friday 18 September. There's also a new ceramic option in pearl white and night blue.
- You'll get a daily readiness score that gives you an idea of how ready your body is for the day, plus new Audio Intelligence features that can recap conversations or rewind the last 15 seconds of one from your wrist, coming later this year.
- Apple also unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, as well as its first foldable, the iPhone Duo. You can read more about them in our separate roundups.
Apple's smartwatch line-up is getting the Watch Series 12 and the rugged Watch Ultra 4.
Not much has changed when it comes to the actual hardware, but there's a big focus on health tracking this year.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 price and availability in Australia
The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $649, and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $1,349.
This is $30 and $50 cheaper than their predecessors.
Sitting at the top of the range is a new ceramic finish in pearl white and night blue, which brings ceramic back to the Apple Watch for the first time since Apple quietly dropped it in 2020.
Here's a full rundown of the pricing.
| Model | Australian RRP |
|---|---|
Apple Watch Series 12 42mm (Aluminium, GPS) | $649 |
Apple Watch Series 12 46mm (Aluminium, GPS) | $739 |
Apple Watch Series 12 42mm (Aluminium, GPS + Cellular) | $799 |
Apple Watch Series 12 46mm (Aluminium, GPS + Cellular) | $889 |
Apple Watch Series 12 42mm (Titanium, GPS + Cellular) | $1,249 |
Apple Watch Series 12 46mm (Titanium, GPS + Cellular) | $1,339 |
Apple Watch Series 12 42mm (Ceramic, GPS + Cellular) | $1,599 |
Apple Watch Series 12 46mm (Ceramic, GPS + Cellular) | $1,689 |
Apple Watch Ultra 4 49mm (Titanium, GPS + Cellular) | $1,349 |
Both are available to pre-order now, and will land in stores on Friday 18 September.
They run watchOS 27, which arrives as a free update on Tuesday 15 September.
If you're buying the Ultra 4, Apple now offers its AfterPay Pay Monthly option in Australia, letting you split the cost over 6 or 12 months.
New subscribers who buy any of the new watches can also get 3 months of Apple Fitness+ and Apple Music.
New health sensor and a readiness score
The big change this year is a rebuilt Health Sensing System, with new heart sensors working alongside Apple's new S11 chip.
Your watch now checks your heart rate every five seconds throughout the day, while heart rate variability, which can give you a sense of stress and recovery, is measured up to 24 times more often than before.
All of that data feeds into the feature you'll probably notice most, which is the readiness score.
You get a score out of 10 based on your recent activity, training load, vitals and sleep, along with a simple recommendation for the day: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready or Go For It.
And it keeps updating throughout the day. So if you smash out a brutal workout or have a rough afternoon, your score can change too.
When I reviewed the Watch Series 11 and Watch Ultra 3 last year, that was exactly what I said I wished Apple would introduce, and here we are!
A watch that can listen, rewind and recap
The other big new addition is Audio Intelligence, which uses the watch's microphone and Apple Intelligence to help you keep track of what's going on around you.
These features are coming later this year in beta.
Here's what you can expect:
- Live Rewind lets you double-press the Digital Crown to bring up the last 15 seconds of a conversation as text. So if you zoned out for a second or missed someone's name, you can quickly check what was said. It also plays a chime and shows an on-screen indicator, so people around you know when it's being used.
- Siri Recap can also summarise a conversation into a title and a few key points that you can read back later.
- There's also Sound Recognition, which can alert you to sounds such as sirens, alarms or a baby crying. That could be particularly useful for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Shazam can now identify songs directly from your wrist.
Apple is also putting a big focus on privacy here. The watch doesn't save recordings. Instead, audio is processed in an isolated part of the chip and then deleted.
All of these features are opt-in.
Battery life is where the two watches split
The Watch Series 12 keeps the familiar 24 hours of battery life, but stretches outdoor workout tracking to up to 10 hours, 25% more than last year.
A 15-minute charge now gets you up to 12 hours of normal use.
If battery life is your priority, the Watch Ultra 4 is the one to look at. It lasts for more than two days on a charge, with up to 50 hours of battery life, or up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode.
For big days out, there's also a new Max Extended Workout mode, which can track a run or hike for up to 45 hours. Apple says that's usually enough to get you through a 160km race.
And a 15-minute charge can add up to 18 hours of battery life.
What else is new in watchOS 27?
Both watches now claim the most accurate step tracking of any smartwatch.
There's also a new steps widget, so you can see your step count right from the watch face.
watchOS 27 also adds a one-handed tap gesture for scrolling through widgets, smarter widget suggestions and support for perimenopause and menopause in Cycle Tracking.
Workout Buddy can now work without your iPhone nearby.
And with the new Siri AI features, the assistant on your wrist can use your personal context to answer broader questions. Like on the iPhone, though, these features are rolling out in beta, starting with English.
Sources
Ask a question