The Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 feature a refreshed band lineup for the fall, adding new colors and materials.



Here's a breakdown of what's new across the band lineup:

• Sport Band: New Navy Blue, Magenta, Olive, Burgundy, Wildflower Blue, Pale Succulent, Sand, and Black colors for Apple Watch Series 12.


• Sport Band (ceramic hardware): Sand and Navy Blue to match the new ceramic Apple Watch Series 12 models; not available as a standalone purchase.


• Sport Loop: New Olive, Burgundy, Limestone, Magenta, and Chambray Blue colors, plus a new inkjet-printed plaid pattern in Burgundy and Light Umber.


• Nike Sport Band and Nike Sport Loop: Five new colors; Essential White, Chalk Calm, Pavement Grey, After Dark Black, and Green Spark.


• Milanese Loop: New Radiant Gold and Natural colors to match the titanium case, plus a new Dark Bronze option, priced at $99.


• Link Bracelet: A new stainless steel bracelet in Radiant Gold and Natural, priced at $349.


• Modern Buckle: New woven material with flecks of color, in Mulberry, Camel, Sage, and Navy Blue, now available with gold hardware for the first time alongside natural hardware, priced at $199 (42mm only).


• Magnetic Link: Available in Wildflower Blue, Burgundy, Camel, and Midnight, priced at $99.


• Solo Loop: New Wildflower Blue, Burgundy, Olive, and Navy Blue colors, priced at $49.


• Braided Solo Loop: New Olive, Magenta, Wildflower Blue, Burgundy, Navy Blue, and Black colors, priced at $99.


• Trail Loop: New Dark Umber, Sand, and Burgundy colors for the Apple Watch Ultra 4, priced at $99 (49mm only).


• Alpine Loop: New Desert, Dark Olive, and Burgundy colors for the Ultra 4, priced at $99 (49mm only).


• Ocean Band: Now made from a translucent silicone material, offered in Translucent Gray, Translucent Kelp, and Translucent Black, priced at $99 (49mm only).


• Hermès Noir Satin Clou de Selle: A new band with a gold-finish clasp and saddle stud, exclusively paired with the new Hermès radiant gold titanium case, priced at $499.


• Hermès Rocabar Club: A new knitted H pattern band inspired by horse-jumping competitions, in four Bleu Nuit colorways paired with Gris Titane, Orange, Bleu Brighton, and Vert accents, priced at $499.


• Hermès En Mer: A new water-resistant knit band for the Apple Watch Ultra 4 with a pillowed stripe and titanium buckle, in Argile, Bordeaux, Bleu Nuit, and Orange colorways, priced at $549 (49mm only).


• Hermès Scub'H Diving: A new rubber band for the Ultra 4 with circular porthole-like cutouts, in Vert Vertigo, Gris Titane, and Bleu De Malte colorways, priced at $549 (49mm only).


• Hermès Grand H Titane: A new titanium version of the Grand H bracelet for the Apple Watch Ultra 4, priced at $2,199 (49mm only).


• Hermès Kilim Single Tour: Bleu De Malte, Cuivre, and Béton colorways, priced at $499.

The new Apple Watch bands are available to order today, with availability in stores beginning Friday, September 18.
This article, "Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 Get Wave of New Bands" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Watch Series 12 comes in a refreshed selection of case finishes and materials, including ceramic.



Here's a breakdown of the case types, finishes, and pricing across the new Apple Watch lineup:

• Apple Watch Series 12 (aluminum): Available in space gray, black, light gold, and dark bronze (starts at $399).


• Apple Watch Series 12 (titanium): Available in radiant gold and natural (starts at $699).


• Apple Watch Series 12 (ceramic): Available in pearl white and night blue (starts at $899).


• Apple Watch Ultra 4 (titanium): Available in natural and black finishes (starts at $799).


• Apple Watch Hermès Series 12 (titanium): Available in radiant gold and silver (starts at $1,399).
• Apple Watch Hermès Ultra 4 (titanium): Available in natural titanium (starts at $1,499).

The ceramic finish returns with the Series 12 this year, pairing with sand and navy blue Sport Bands that feature a ceramic pin-and-tuck closure to match the case.

Pre-orders for both Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 are open today, with availability beginning Friday, September 18.
This article, "Apple Watch Series 12 Comes in New Finishes, Including Ceramic" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today announced "Audio Intelligence," a new suite of Apple Intelligence-powered features for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 that use the built-in microphone to help users catch missed moments in conversation and stay aware of important sounds.


The Apple Watch's Audio Intelligence comprises four features:

• Siri Recap: Uses ambient listening to generate high-level notes from conversations, such as takeaways from a team meeting or a parent-teacher conference, producing an Apple Intelligence-generated title, summary, and key points reviewable in the Siri app.


• Live Rewind: Lets users "go back in time for 15 seconds," transcribing and displaying what was just said in a conversation with a double press of the Digital Crown.


• Shazam: Automatically identifies music playing nearby and surfaces the song title and artist on the Music Recognition widget in the Smart Stack.


• Sound Recognition: Brings sound alerts to Apple Watch for users who are deaf or hard of hearing, listening for sirens, alarms, doorbells, a baby crying, and more, even when their iPhone isn't nearby.

Apple emphasized that ‌Siri‌ Recap is opt-in and configurable, telling users they "control if and when ‌Siri‌ Recap takes notes." Users can set it to always listen or schedule it for specific contexts, such as only at work or never at night, and can toggle it on or off at any time from Control Center. Apple reiterated that none of the Audio Intelligence features create or store audio recordings, with raw audio processed in an isolated Secure Exclave on the S11 chip and deleted immediately after use.

Audio Intelligence and ‌Siri‌ AI both require an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, with Live Rewind and ‌Siri‌ Recap limited to the iPhone 16 or later (excluding the iPhone 16e).

The features arrive in beta later this year, starting in English, with additional languages to follow, and will not initially be available in the EU.
This article, "Three All-New 'Audio Intelligence' Features Arrive With Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 offer a range of new health and fitness features. Here's everything that's new.


Apple today revealed the following features for the two new devices:

• New "Health Sensing System": A redesigned sensor architecture with three main improvements, including increased electrode surface area for better ECG skin contact, photodiodes arranged in a ring for more efficient light capture, and larger, more power-efficient green LEDs for accurate heart rate readings during motion.


• Continuous heart rate sensing: Heart rate is now measured every five seconds throughout the day, 60 times more frequently than before, viewable via a new watch face complication.


• Higher-frequency HRV: Heart rate variability is sampled up to 24 times more often, with separate recovery and overall HRV values shown in a new section of the Heart Rate app.


• Daytime vitals view: A new toggle lets users switch between overnight and daytime vitals, potentially catching shifts in metrics before they show up in overnight readings.


• VO2 Max test: A new test has users set up their iPhone to watch them perform a series of exercises, delivering results immediately alongside data from their Apple Watch.


• Most accurate step tracking: A redesigned pedometer model with new machine learning algorithms improves distance accuracy for indoor workouts and all-day step counts.


• Steps complication: A brand-new watch face complication, enabled by the S11 chip, lets users track their step count in real time.


• Longer workout battery life: Up to 10 hours during an outdoor workout, 25% more than the previous model, with 15 minutes of charging now delivering up to 12 hours of extra battery. The Apple Watch Ultra 4 goes further, with up to 50 hours of everyday battery life, 84 hours in Low Power Mode, and a new Max Extended Workout mode rated for up to 45 hours of outdoor tracking; 15 minutes of charging adds up to 18 hours of battery.

The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799, with pre-orders for both open today and availability beginning Friday, September 18.
This article, "Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 Offer These Eight New Health and Fitness Features" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple no longer charges extra for Active Noise Cancellation on AirPods, folding it into the $129 AirPods 5 instead of reserving it for the higher-end model.


Apple today announced the AirPods 5. ANC now comes standard on the base model rather than being exclusive to its pricier variant, as it was with the outgoing AirPods 4, which cost $129 without ANC and $179 with it.

There is still a pricier version of the AirPods 5, called "AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case." This model starts at $149 and includes a force sensor with swiping volume controls, an hour of additional battery life with ANC enabled, and wireless charging. The ‌AirPods 4‌ with ANC were priced at $179.

AirPods 5 are available for pre-order starting today, with both the $129 and $149 models arriving in stores on Friday, September 18.
This article, "AirPods 5 Include ANC as Standard, Pricier Variant Now Gatekeeps Wireless Charging Instead" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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