Apple Watch Series 12 measures your heart rate every 5 seconds with redesigned sensors
The new Apple Watch Series 12 arrives with redesigned health sensors, the S11 chip, and a $399 starting price.
At its September 9 event, Apple also refreshed its smartwatch lineup — the Apple Watch Series 12 brings meaningful upgrades to health tracking. It comes in 42mm and 46mm sizes, in aluminum, titanium (from $699), and a new ceramic finish (from $899).
The headline upgrade is a redesigned optical and electrical heart sensor. The watch now takes a background heart-rate reading every 5 seconds — 60 times more often than Series 11. Heart rate variability (HRV) is measured every 5 minutes, 24 times more frequently than before.
Series 12 runs on the S11 chip and packs an electrical heart sensor, an always-on optical heart sensor, a blood oxygen sensor, a temperature sensor, a compass, an always-on altimeter, a high-g accelerometer, an HDR gyroscope, an ambient light sensor, and a water temperature sensor.
Connectivity includes 5G and Bluetooth 5.3, along with fast charging. Together, these sensors let the watch track health far more precisely and frequently than previous models.
The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399, with the titanium version from $699 and the new ceramic model from $899. It goes on sale September 18.
