At its new product launch event in Cupertino, Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. Although these two smartwatches do not have major hardware changes, Apple has implemented a set of new software features for them that place special emphasis on artificial intelligence.
The most important part of these changes is the new "voice intelligence" features that allow users to return to certain moments and details of their daily conversations. With these features, Apple is trying to capture a larger share of the growing market for AI-equipped wearables.
Return to 15 seconds earlier with Live Rewind
One of the new features of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 is called "Live Rewind," which allows users to return to 15 seconds before a conversation.
To use this feature, the user simply presses the Digital Crown twice. Then the content from 15 seconds earlier in the conversation is shown as a text snippet on the display. The user can ask Siri about the content of this text or save it in the new Siri app to access it later.
Siri Recap; a summary of daily conversations
Another new feature called "Siri Recap" is designed to help users remember important points of their daily conversations.
This feature listens to the surrounding environment and produces high-level notes of conversation content; for example, it can record key points raised in a team meeting or a parent-teacher conference.
When Siri Recap is active, after the conversation ends, Apple Intelligence automatically creates a title and key points for it in the new Siri app.
Sound detection to help people with hearing loss
Apple also introduced a new feature called "Sound Detection" that can recognize various environmental sounds, including sirens, alarms, doorbells, and a baby crying.
This feature is designed to help people with hearing loss become aware of certain important sounds in their surroundings.
Apple emphasized that the voice intelligence features of these watches do not create or store recorded sounds.
More accurate health sensors in the new Apple Watches
Both of Apple’s new smartwatches are equipped with a new health sensor system that has more electrode surface to establish better contact with the skin when recording an electrocardiogram.
To improve the optical sensor’s performance, redesigned photodiodes are arranged in a ring to capture light more efficiently. Also, lower-power green LEDs are used so that heart rate measurement throughout the day, even during movement, is performed with greater accuracy.
The new health sensing system also records heart rate data at a higher frequency; a metric that is one of the important measures for evaluating overall health. According to Apple, background heart rate is now recorded every five seconds throughout the day, even when the user is moving. This rate is 60 times greater compared to the previous generation.
Readiness score and “health age” to assess body condition
In its new watches, Apple also offers features modeled after smart rings. One of these features is the new "Readiness" scores, which each morning review recent activities, vital signs, and the user’s sleep status and present them as a single score.
This score indicates how ready the user’s body is to start the day.
Another new feature called "Health Age" allows users to review their key health metrics based on data recorded by the watch, including maximal oxygen consumption or VO2 max, sleep, and other data, and see how these metrics compare to their actual age.
The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at a base price of $399, and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 will start at $499.