Apple has unveiled the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, introducing its new Health Sensing System and S11 chip across both lineups. The Series 12 focuses on everyday health and fitness tracking, while the Ultra 4 is designed for athletes and adventure users with longer battery life and improved GPS capabilities.
Apple Watch Series 12 Specifications And Features
The Apple Watch Series 12 features Apple's new Health Sensing System, combining new optical and electrical heart sensors with the S11 chip. Apple claims it offers the most accurate heart-rate sensing in a wearable.
The watch measures heart rate every five seconds throughout the day, while HRV measurements are captured up to 24 times more frequently. It also introduces Recovery HRV and overall HRV tracking, along with improved overnight and daytime vitals. The new Readiness feature analyses recent activity, training load, vitals and sleep data to provide a 0-10 score, with recommendations such as Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready or Go For It.
The Series 12 offers up to 24 hours of everyday battery life and up to 10 hours during outdoor workouts, which Apple says is 25% more than the previous generation. Fifteen minutes of charging can provide up to 12 hours of additional battery life. The smartwatch is available in 42mm and 46mm sizes, with aluminium, titanium and ceramic case options. Aluminium models feature Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple claims is 60% tougher than the Ion-X glass used on previous aluminium models. The Series 12 also gets improved step tracking using new machine-learning algorithms and a new Steps complication.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 Specifications And Features
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 gets the same new Health Sensing System and S11 chip, bringing five-second heart-rate measurements, more frequent HRV tracking and the new Readiness score.
The Ultra 4 is built for longer workouts and outdoor activities. It offers up to 50 hours of everyday battery life and up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode. For outdoor workouts, the new Extended Workout mode provides up to 25 hours of battery life with full GPS and heart-rate tracking. Max Extended Workout mode increases this to 45 hours, with GPS readings taken every second.
Charging has also been improved, with 15 minutes of charging adding up to 18 hours of battery life. Apple claims the Ultra 4 has the most accurate on-device GPS in a sports watch, with improved route accuracy in challenging urban environments.
The watch is available in natural and black titanium finishes and gets improved step tracking through the S11 chip and machine-learning algorithms. Both the Series 12 and Ultra 4 also support new Audio Intelligence features, including Sound Recognition, Live Rewind, Siri Recap and faster Shazam. Live Rewind and Siri Recap will arrive in beta later this year.
With watchOS 27, both models also support Siri AI, which brings personal context understanding and broader world knowledge to the Apple Watch.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 Price and Availability
The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is priced at ₹1,09,900, with EMI starting from ₹3,917 per month. The listing also mentions instant cashback and No Cost EMI offers. For the Apple Watch Series 12, the Aluminium variant starts at ₹56,900, while the Titanium variant starts at ₹99,900. The newly introduced Ceramic version is priced at ₹1,24,900. The Aluminium model is available with a choice of GPS or GPS + Cellular, while the Titanium and Ceramic variants come with GPS + Cellular connectivity.
Both models are available to pre-order from September 9, with availability beginning September 18. India is among the first-wave markets.
The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 share the same core health and AI upgrades, but target different users. The Series 12 focuses on everyday health, fitness and battery improvements, while the Ultra 4 adds significantly longer endurance and enhanced GPS capabilities for outdoor activities.
The new Health Sensing System and Readiness score are the biggest upgrades across both models, while Audio Intelligence and Siri AI could make the Apple Watch considerably more useful beyond traditional fitness and notification features.
