Apple starts preorders for Watch Series 12, Ultra 4 with new Health Sensing System

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Summary

Apple starts preorders for the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 with a new Health Sensing System and integrated Apple Intelligence features for improved health tracking.

<p>Apple announced the Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 today. Both include a new "Health Sensing System" and S11 chip that give the devices the “most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable," Apple claimed during its <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/apples-iphone-18-pro-adds-variable-camera-aperture-and-a-more-powerful-chip/">fall event</a>.</p> <img width="640" height="356" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Picture1-640x356.png" class="right medium" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Picture1-640x356.png 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Picture1-768x427.png 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Picture1.png 936w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"> Apple's depiction of the S11 chip. Credit: Apple <p>Both watches will use the new S11 chip alongside the new "Health Sensing System," allowing the watches to deliver higher-frequency heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements than prior Apple Watches.</p> <img width="640" height="640" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-640x640.jpg" class="right medium" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-640x640.jpg 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-500x500.jpg 500w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-980x980.jpg 980w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Apple-Watch-Ultra-4-overnight-vitals-260909-1-1440x1440.jpg 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"> The Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 (pictured) will run watchOS 27. <p> </p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/apple-watch-series-12-ultra-4-have-wearables-most-accurate-heart-rate-sensing/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/apple-watch-series-12-ultra-4-have-wearables-most-accurate-heart-rate-sensing/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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Cached at: 09/10/26, 02:11 AM

# Apple starts preorders for Watch Series 12, Ultra 4 with new Health Sensing System Source: [https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/apple-watch-series-12-ultra-4-have-wearables-most-accurate-heart-rate-sensing/](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/apple-watch-series-12-ultra-4-have-wearables-most-accurate-heart-rate-sensing/) Apple claims that the new wearables have the most accurate heart rate sensing in any wearable based on a study “on a diverse population of over 1,000 participants\.” The new Watches will also introduce “readiness” scores, which Apple says “analyze a user’s recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep score to offer insight into their capacity for the day ahead” on a scale from 0 to 10\. This score updates throughout the day based on the user’s activity\. Apple will update the iOS Health app later this year, allowing Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 users to access a new “Health Age” score\. “The Health app also includes movement evaluations that measure flexibility, strength, balance, and more using vision\-based AI models on iPhone and heart rate data from Apple Watch\. Users will be able to schedule and purchase new labs that feature over 50 key biomarkers for $119 directly through the Health app at approximately 2,000 Quest Diagnostics locations in the US,” Apple said\. ## Apple Intelligence features [![Apple Watch Ultra 4](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-09-at-12.50.46-640x360.png)](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-09-at-12.50.46.png) The Watch Ultra 4 comes in “natural” and “black titanium” colorways\. Credit: Apple The Watch Ultra 4 comes in “natural” and “black titanium” colorways\.Credit: Apple Apple is also incorporating more Apple Intelligence\-based features into the new watches\. These features include the ability to use the Shazam song detection feature, Live Rewind, which Apple said “shows the previous 15 seconds of a conversation as a text snippet” when users double\-press the Digital Crown, and Siri Recap, which, per Apple, “can create high\-level summaries of conversations that users can review later to jog their memory\.” Both watches are available for preorder today and will ship on September 18\. The Watch Series 12 starts at $399, and the Ultra 4 starts at $799\.

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