Engadget
The new wearable's audio features aren't available yet, but there are plenty of upgrades here.
New features dominated the conversation around the Apple Watch Series 12 launch last week. In the aftermath of the keynote presentation, people seemed lost in the controversy around two new Apple Watch features: Siri Recaps and Live Rewind.
In its typical privacy-minded way, Apple took pains to explain how the Series 12's S11 chip and Secure Exclave made those features more private than the alternative methods now available.
Only two of the four Audio Intelligence features are available at the moment: faster Shazam and Sound Recognition.
In a feature that's existed since watchOS 26, the Series 12 can automatically adjust your notification volumes based on your surrounding noise levels.
At first glance, you probably won't spot any difference between the Series 12 and Series 11.
The company also upgraded the protective covering on the screen on the aluminum versions, giving them the Ceramic Shield 2 that is also on the iPhone 18 Pro.
The upgrade to the Apple Watch Series 12 is its new "health sensing system," which you can see on the underside.
Last year, Apple brought Sleep Scores to the Watch Series 11 Samsung and Google had already been doing.
If you can ignore the Live Rewind and Siri Recap features that aren't even available on the Apple Watch Series 12 yet, the device is a solid upgrade over older models.
Regardless, the Apple Watch Series 12 remains a solid smartwatch that maintains its small lead ahead of the competition by catching up on some health-related features.