The largest published saving on an Apple Watch Series 12 does not come from Apple. Best Buy’s listing takes up to $325 off a Series 12 pre-order when you trade in an eligible Apple Watch, and that offer expires 9/18/2026. Apple’s own price is From $399, and Apple is not discounting it. Series 12 in…
Apple Watch Series 12
Live Rewind and Siri Recap Need an iPhone 16 or Newer, Apple's New Support Document Says
Apple published a support document on September 9 that gives a name to a set of Apple Intelligence features on its two newest watches, and it carries a requirement that is easy to miss. Two of the four features in the category need an iPhone 16 or newer, and the other two do not. Apple…
Apple Watch Series 12 Aluminum, Titanium or Ceramic: What Each Case Weighs, and What Apple Has Not Priced
Choosing between aluminum, titanium and ceramic on Apple Watch Series 12 changes four published things: the front crystal, the weight, the case dimensions in ceramic, and the finishes on offer. It changes nothing about the chip, the sensors, the display or the battery. Series 12 comes in 42mm and 46mm cases, or 43mm and 47mm…
Apple Watch Readiness: What the Score Is Built From, and Whether It Is Worth a New Watch
Readiness is a single score between 0 and 10, produced once a day and updated as the day goes on, built from four inputs Apple names: recent activity, training load, vitals and sleep. It ends in one of four recommendations, Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready or Go For It. Readiness is listed on Series 12 and…
Apple Watch Series 12 Heart Sensors: What Changes If You Are Not an Athlete
If you are not training for anything, what the new Health Sensing System on Apple Watch Series 12 changes is how often the watch measures you and where those numbers surface, not what the watch is able to tell you. Apple’s figures are precise: heart rate every five seconds all day, and heart rate variability…
Apple Watch Ultra 4 or Series 12: The Three Numbers That Decide It, Starting With Your Wrist Size
Apple Watch Ultra 4 and Apple Watch Series 12 share the S11 chip, the same Health Sensing System, the same Readiness app and the same 64GB of storage, so this is not a health decision. Three published numbers settle it instead: the wrist range each case is designed to fit, how many hours the watch…
Apple Watch Series 10 to Series 12: What watchOS 27 Gives You Free, and What Needs the $399 Upgrade
Apple Watch Series 10 is on the watchOS 27 compatibility list, so every software feature Apple showed on September 9 lands on the watch you already own, free, on September 14. What the $399 Apple Watch Series 12 buys is hardware: the new Health Sensing System, up to 24 hours of battery instead of 18,…
Ceramic Shield 2 in 2026: Which Apple Devices Get It, and Why Apple Only Claims Scratch Resistance
Ceramic Shield 2 sits on the front of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, on the outer display of the iPhone Duo, and on the front crystal of the aluminum Apple Watch Series 12. Every claim Apple publishes for it is a scratch claim: three times better scratch resistance on the iPhone…
Apple Watch Series 12 vs Apple Watch Series 7: Five Years On, Everything That Changed
Five years separate Apple Watch Series 7 from Series 12, and in that time Apple has changed the chip four times, doubled peak brightness from 1000 to 2000 nits, moved from 41 mm and 45 mm cases to 42 mm and 46 mm, added temperature, depth and water temperature sensors, and raised the battery rating…
Apple Watch Series 12 vs Apple Watch Series 8: watchOS 27 Drops Series 8, So Is It Time to Upgrade?
Apple Watch Series 8 is not on Apple’s watchOS 27 compatibility list, which starts at Series 9, so the 2022 watch stops at watchOS 26 while Series 12 launches with the new software, an S11 chip, a 2000-nit display, new heart sensors and a 24-hour battery rating. The starting price is unchanged at $399, the…
Apple Watch Series 12 vs Apple Watch Series 9: Three Years, Two Chip Generations and a New Sensor Stack
Apple Watch Series 12 is two chip generations ahead of the 2023 Series 9, moving from the S9 to the S11, and it adds a new Health Sensing System, a depth gauge, a 24-hour battery rating instead of 18, and 42 mm and 46 mm cases in place of 41 mm and 45 mm, all…
Apple Watch Hermès Series 12 and Hermès Ultra 4: Every Case and Band Apple Lists, and Why There Is No Price
Apple lists 12 Hermès Series 12 configurations and a full Hermès Ultra 4 band set for September 18, and has published a price for none of them.
AppleCare One at $19.99 a Month: Covering iPhone 18 Pro, Apple Watch and AirPods 5 Under One Plan
AppleCare One costs from $19.99 a month and covers up to three devices on one plan, and a family version at $49.99 a month becomes available on Monday, September 14, according to Apple’s AppleCare page. Those two figures are the only coverage prices Apple currently publishes for anything it announced on September 9. iPhone 18…
How to Use Sound Recognition Alerts on Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4
Sound Recognition on Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 alerts you when the watch’s microphone picks up sirens, alarms, doorbells or a baby crying. Apple says the feature requires one of those two models, runs on the S11 chip, and keeps no audio recordings. Sound Recognition is part of Audio Intelligence, the…
How to Set Up Apple Watch Series 12 for a Family Member or Child
Apple Watch Series 12 can be set up for someone who does not have their own iPhone. Apple’s support guide puts the choice at step four of the pairing flow, where you pick “Set Up for Myself” or “Set Up for a Family Member,” and points to a separate support article (109036) for the family-specific…
What's in the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 Box: Fast Charger to USB-C Cable, One Band, No Power Adapter
Apple’s tech specs list three items in the Apple Watch Series 12 box: the watch, a band, and an Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable, 1 meter long. The Apple Watch Ultra 4 box lists the same three items. Neither box includes a USB-C power adapter, so you need your own. Apple Watch…
Apple Watch Ultra 4 vs Series 12 for Runners: 10 vs 18, 25 and 45 Workout Hours, L1 vs Dual-Frequency GPS
For a runner, two lines on Apple’s spec sheets separate Apple Watch Ultra 4 from Apple Watch Series 12: workout battery and GPS. Series 12 is rated for up to 10 hours of outdoor workout with Precision L1 GPS, while Ultra 4 is rated for 18 hours, 25 hours in Extended Workout and 45 hours…
How to Use the Tap Gesture and Dynamic App Grid in watchOS 27
watchOS 27 adds two navigation changes Apple describes on its watchOS page: a tap gesture, a single tap of your index finger and thumb, that selects Smart Stack widgets one-handed, and a dynamic app grid that automatically suggests your frequently and recently used apps. Both arrive with the free update on Monday, September 14, the…
Apple Watch Series 12 Has Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.3: What the Gap With iPhone 18 Pro's Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 Means
Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 connect over Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) and Bluetooth 5.3, according to Apple’s tech specs, while the iPhone 18 Pro announced the same day has Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) and Bluetooth 6. Apple has not explained the gap, but its compare page shows the watch radios are unchanged from…
Ceramic Apple Watch Series 12 Is Slightly Bigger: 43 mm and 47 mm Cases, 9.85 mm Deep
The ceramic Apple Watch Series 12 is not quite the same size as the aluminum and titanium models. Apple’s tech specs list the ceramic cases at 43 mm and 47 mm tall and 9.85 mm deep, against 42 mm and 46 mm and 9.7 mm for the other materials, even though Apple sells all three…
Apple Watch Ultra 4 vs Apple Watch Series 11: Last Year's $399 Watch or the New $799 One
Apple Watch Ultra 4 costs $799 and Apple Watch Series 11 launched at $399 a year ago, so the question is whether the S11 chip, 50-hour battery, 100 m water resistance and satellite messaging are worth $400 over last year’s mainstream watch. They are if you hike, dive, run long distances or hate charging; if…
How to Set Up Cycle Tracking and Perimenopause Notifications on Apple Watch Series 12
Cycle Tracking for Apple Watch Series 12 is set up in the Health app on iPhone: tap Search, then Cycle Tracking, then Get Started. Once it is on, you log a period from the Cycle Tracking app on the watch, and the perimenopause and menopause notifications Apple added for watchOS 27 arrive with the free…
How to Read Recovery HRV and the Daytime Vitals View on Apple Watch Series 12
Apple Watch Series 12 measures heart rate variability every five minutes and reports it two ways: Recovery HRV, which Apple describes as a daily stress and recovery signal, and overall HRV. Both appear in the Heart Rate app on the watch, and a new daytime vitals view lets you toggle between overnight and daytime metrics…
How to Use Live Rewind on Apple Watch Series 12: Double-Press the Digital Crown for the Last 15 Seconds
Live Rewind is not available yet: Apple says it arrives in beta late in 2026. Once it does, Live Rewind on Apple Watch Series 12 shows the previous 15 seconds of a conversation as a text snippet after you double-press the Digital Crown. Apple says the feature needs a paired Apple Intelligence iPhone 16 or…