Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399, which is what Series 7 cost in 2021 and what every Series watch in between has cost at launch. Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799, the same as the first Ultra in 2022, and Apple Watch SE 3 is $249, the same as the SE it replaced.…
Apple Watch
Apple Watch Battery Life History: 18 Hours for Four Generations, 24 Now, and 50 on Ultra 4
Apple rated the Apple Watch at up to 18 hours of normal use for four straight generations, from Series 7 in 2021 to Series 10 in 2024. Series 11 moved that to 24 hours last year, Series 12 keeps it, and Apple Watch Ultra 4 is now rated at up to 50 hours. Apple Watch…
Apple Watch Ultra 4 vs Series 12 for Swimming and Diving: 100 m, 40 m Depth and What 50 m Covers
Both new Apple Watches swim. Apple rates Series 12 at 50 meters with a depth gauge that stops at 6 meters, and Ultra 4 at 100 meters with recreational scuba certification to 40 meters, and that single difference is what separates a $399 watch from a $799 one in the water. The Ocean Band in…
Apple Watch Series 6 or Older: What Upgrading Costs in 2026, and Which Watch to Pick
If you are wearing an Apple Watch Series 6 or older, watchOS 27 will not install on it on Monday, September 14. Apple’s replacement lineup is three watches: SE 3 from $249, Series 12 from $399 and Ultra 4 from $799. Apple Watch Series 12 in 42mm and 46mm, the $399 middle option. Image: Apple…
Apple Watch SE 3 vs Apple Watch Series 11: The Same S10 Chip for $150 Less
Apple Watch SE 3 sells for $249 and Apple Watch Series 11 arrived in September 2025 at $399, and Apple lists the same S10 chip in both. What the extra $150 bought was a larger and much brighter display, six more hours of rated battery life and two heart sensors the SE does not have.…
Apple Watch Series 12 Band Fit: What Apple Publishes for 42mm, 46mm and the Bigger Ceramic Case
Apple Watch Series 12 comes in two size classes, 42mm and 46mm, and Apple sells its bands under those same two labels. The catch this year is ceramic: Apple’s specifications list the ceramic case as 43mm and 47mm tall, a millimetre more than the aluminium and titanium cases in the same class, and it is…
Does the Apple Watch Series 12 Measure Blood Pressure? No, and Here Is What It Does Instead
No. The Apple Watch Series 12 does not measure blood pressure, and Apple has never said it does. There is no cuff, no systolic or diastolic reading, and no blood pressure sensor anywhere on the sensor list Apple publishes for the watch. The Readiness score is one of the features fed by the more frequent…
Apple Watch Ultra 4 for Races Over 24 Hours: Every Workout Battery Mode, and Where Training Load Fits
Apple Watch Ultra 4 publishes three workout battery ratings: up to 18 hours of outdoor workout, up to 25 hours in Extended Workout mode, and up to 45 hours in a new Max Extended Workout mode that records GPS at one-second intervals. Apple aims that top mode at 100-mile races. Ultra 4 rates up to…
Apple Watch Recovery HRV vs Overall HRV: What Apple Says Separates the Two
Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 measure heart rate variability every five minutes, and Apple reports the result in two named forms: Recovery HRV, which it ties to daily stress and recovery, and overall HRV. The difference is not the sensor. It is what each number is measured against. Heart health insights…
Apple Watch Readiness Inputs: What Activity, Training Load, Vitals and Sleep Each Demand From You
Readiness on Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 is a single daily number from 0 to 10, and Apple says it is built from four inputs: recent activity, training load, vitals and sleep. Two of those four are gathered while you are asleep, which makes overnight wear the part of the routine…
watchOS 27 and Your iPhone: The Four Requirement Levels Apple Publishes, From iPhone 11 to iPhone 16
watchOS 27 needs an iPhone, and Apple publishes four separate iPhone requirements rather than one. The floor for the update itself is an iPhone 11, the floor for Siri AI on the wrist is an Apple Intelligence iPhone, and the floor for Live Rewind and Siri Recap is an iPhone 16 or newer. watchOS 27…
The watchOS 27 Features Locked to the S11 Chip: What an Older Apple Watch Cannot Get
Four of the features Apple showed on September 9 never reach an older Apple Watch, no matter which version of watchOS it runs. Apple’s own support document limits Sound Recognition, Music Recognition with Shazam, Live Rewind and Siri Recap to the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, the two models built around…
watchOS 27 on the Apple Watch You Already Own: 14 Features That Cost Nothing on Monday
If you already own an Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, Series 11, SE 3, Ultra 2 or Ultra 3, watchOS 27 costs you nothing on Monday, September 14, and it brings 14 confirmed changes to a watch you have owned for up to three years. None of them require the new Series 12 or…
Apple Sells Just Three Apple Watches Now: $249, $399 and $799, and One Is the Value Buy
Apple now sells exactly three Apple Watches: Apple Watch Series 12 from $399, Apple Watch Ultra 4 from $799, and Apple Watch SE 3 from $249. Everything else has gone, including last year’s Series 11 and Ultra 3, whose store pages no longer resolve on apple.com. Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399 and is…
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…
GymKit on iPhone in iOS 27: Connecting to Treadmills, Ellipticals and Bikes Without an Apple Watch
iOS 27 brings GymKit to iPhone for treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and stair-steppers, with AirPods Pro 3 heart rate and no Apple Watch required.
Every Device That Runs Apple Intelligence in 2026: iPhone, iPad, MacBook Neo, Mac, Vision Pro and Apple Watch
Apple Intelligence runs on 15 iPhone models, three iPad lines, seven Mac families, Apple Vision Pro with M2 or later, and three tiers of Apple Watch, according to the device list on Apple’s Apple Intelligence page. The Apple Watch entry has a condition the others do not: it works only when the watch is paired…
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 Apple Watch SE 3: $799 or $249, What $550 Buys
Apple Watch Ultra 4 costs $799 and Apple Watch SE 3 costs $249 on Apple’s Store page, a gap of $550. Apple’s tech specs show what that money buys: the S11 chip instead of S10, 50 hours of battery instead of 18, 3000 nits instead of 1000, a 100 m water rating instead of 50…
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…
Apple Watch Ultra 4 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2: 36 to 50 Hours, S9 to S11 and Satellite Added
Apple Watch Ultra 4 raises the battery rating from the Ultra 2’s 36 hours to 50, moves two chip generations from the S9 to the S11, adds satellite messaging that Ultra 2 never had, charges to 80 percent in about 45 minutes instead of about an hour, and keeps the $799 price Apple set for…
5G RedCap on Apple Watch Series 12 Explained: What It Is and Why the Watch Does Not Use Full 5G
The cellular versions of Apple Watch Series 12 connect over 5G using RedCap, according to Apple’s tech specs, which list “Supports RedCap for 5G and LTE” for the two cellular models, A3582 and A3587. RedCap is short for Reduced Capability, a lighter 5G profile for small devices, so Series 12 is a 5G watch without…