The Series 12 incorporates a new Readiness score.
Credit: Apple
At its “Surprise and Shine” event on Wednesday, Apple launched the Apple Watch Series 12 with a new Health Sensing System and the S11 chip.
The device’s new heart rate sensor uses larger, more efficient green LEDs and a ring of photodiodes, which improves light capture. The heart sensor has a bigger electrode for improved skin contact during ECG readings. The company says this gives the watch its most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable, according to its own internal study involving about 1,000 participants.
The watch now measures your heart rate every five seconds throughout the day, rather than exclusively during a workout or sleep. It also measures heart rate variability (HRV) up to 24x more often, with separate Recovery HRV and Overall HRV views in the Heart Rate app.
There’s also a new Readiness score that ranges from 0-10 and combines the last 24 hours’ activity, health, and sleep data to recommend whether to focus on physical recovery or strive for a more active day. The score updates throughout the day.
The Series 12 also features Audio Intelligence, which processes sound on the device without saving recordings. And there’s Live Rewind, which lets users see the last 15 seconds of conversation as text by double‑pressing the Digital Crown. Siri Recap can generate a title and key points from a conversation and save them in the Siri app.
Pricing starts at $399 in the US.
