Hands-On With the Apple Watch Series 12 - macrumors.com

The Apple Watch Series 12 came out today, and we picked one up to get a look at the new feature set. There are no major external changes, but Apple updated the device's internals and health sensors.

You might not be able to tell a Series 11 apart from a Series 12 when looking at the front, but the back has been updated. Apple says the upgraded sensors make the Apple Watch Series 12 the most accurate wearable for heart rate sensing.

The Series 12 has a Health Sensing System that pairs the new sensors with an S11 chip that's faster than the S10 in the prior-generation model. It takes heart rate readings every five seconds now and measures heart rate variability as often as every five minutes.

It's early, but so far we haven't seen the higher sampling rates cause excessive battery drain. The Apple Watch Series 12 is still rated for all-day battery life, and charging is faster this year. You can get up to 12 hours of normal usage from a 15-minute charge, but you need to use the Apple Watch charger that comes with the Series 12. Older chargers won't give you the faster charging rate.

The Health Sensing System powers a readiness score that lets you know whether to go all-out on activity or take a rest day. It's based on metrics such as recent activity, vitals, and sleep, and will adjust as the day continues. It takes about a week of data collection from the Series 12 before you start getting a readiness score.

The S11 chip will power Live Rewind and Siri Recap features, but those won't be available until later this year.

Even though the Apple Watch hasn't seen a design refresh, the health features make this a decent update. You may not want to upgrade if you have the Series 10 or Series 11, but anything older is worth upgrading from.

The Series 12 comes in 42mm and 46mm size options with pricing starting at $399.