Apple on Wednesday unveiled the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 at its Surprise and Shine event<\/a> in Cupertino. While the smartwatches aren\u2019t getting a major hardware makeover, they are getting some significant software updates.<\/p>\n Most notably, Apple is taking aim at the growing wave of AI wearables with new \u201cAudio Intelligence\u201d features that let you rewind moments and remember details from daily conversations. <\/p>\n The smartwatches are launching with \u201cLive Rewind,\u201d a feature Apple describes as letting you go back up to 15 seconds. A double press of the Digital Crown shows the previous 15 seconds of a conversation as a text snippet. You can ask Siri about the content of that transcript, or save it to the new Siri app to revisit later.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a \u201cSiri Recap\u201d feature that\u2019s designed to help you remember key moments from daily conversations. It uses ambient listening to take high-level notes of your conversations, like takeaways from a team meeting or a parent-teacher conference. When Siri Recap is turned on, after a conversation, Apple Intelligence automatically generates a title and key points in the new Siri app. <\/p>\n A new \u201cSound Recognition\u201d feature will be able to listen for sounds like sirens, alarms, doorbells, a baby crying, and more for people who are hard of hearing. <\/p>\n Apple says these audio intelligence features do not create or store audio recordings.<\/p>\n Both of the new smartwatches feature a health-sensing system with an increased electrode surface area for better skin contact during ECG readings. For improved optical sensing, redesigned photodiodes are arranged in a ring to capture light more efficiently. There are also more power-efficient green LEDs that enable accurate heart-rate measurements throughout the day, even during motion.<\/p>\n The new health-sensing system delivers higher frequency continuous heart rate data, which is a key indicator of your overall health. Background heart rate readings are now taken every five seconds all day long, even while you\u2019re on the go. That\u2019s 60x more frequent than before.<\/p>\n The smartwatches are taking a page from smart rings with new readiness scores that analyze your recent activity, vitals, and sleep each morning, distilling it all into a single score that indicates how prepared your body is to take on the day.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a new \u201cHealth Age\u201d feature that lets users see how their key health metrics compare with their actual age, based on data from their watch, including VO2 max, sleep, and more.<\/p>\n The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399, while the Apple Watch Ultra 4 costs $499. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-09-at-1.57.45-PM.png?w=680\")