Apple unveiled Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5 alongside the new iPhone.
Apple on the 9th (local time) held a new product launch event, "Surprise and shine," at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, and unveiled new Apple Watch and AirPods models. Sumbul Desai, Apple vice president of the health institutional sector, said, "By combining Apple Watch's groundbreaking sensing and the Apple Intelligence of the health application (app), we can clearly analyze complex biometric data."
◇ Improves heart rate accuracy and "AI health analysis"
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 are equipped with a new "health detection system" and the S11 chip. Apple said this delivers the most accurate heart rate measurement among wearables. In a study comparing major wearables with more than 1,000 participants, Apple Watch showed the highest accuracy, it said. The two products measure heart rate every 5 seconds and measure heart rate variability (HRV), an indicator of stress and recovery, as often as every 5 minutes.
A standout new feature is "readiness." It analyzes recent activity, vitals and sleep scores to present the day's physical capacity on a 0–10 scale, and recommends one of four stages: "recovery," "take it easy," "ready" and "good to push." This metric updates whenever new data comes in.
A new AI feature called "audio intelligence" is slated to come to both watches later this year. It will include "sound recognition," which detects important sounds such as sirens, doorbells and a baby crying and alerts users with hearing impairment; "live rewind," which displays the most recent 15 seconds of conversation as text; "Siri recap," which automatically summarizes key points after a conversation; and "Shazam," which recognizes music playing nearby and displays the artist and track name. Apple said audio intelligence does not separately record or store voice.
Later this year, Apple Intelligence will be applied to the iPhone Health app, allowing flexibility, strength and balance to be measured at home using Apple Watch or the iPhone camera. Apple emphasized that the entire process is handled on device, and video is not recorded, saved or shared.
◇ AirPods 5 also get stronger AI, with real-time translation and navigation
AirPods 5 reduce external noise by up to 50% more than AirPods 4. Apple said, "Based on open-ear design earphones, we applied industry-leading active noise canceling (ANC)."
Users with iPhones that support Apple Intelligence can use AirPods 5 hands-free to access useful intelligent features on the go. For example, they can ask Siri to play a track a friend recommended by message, or to guide them to a dinner venue based on a reservation confirmation buried deep in email. Real-time translation based on Apple Intelligence is also supported. Users can communicate with Siri AI by nodding or shaking their head.
Prices start at $399 (about 540,000 won) for Apple Watch Series 12, $799 (about 1.07 million won) for Ultra 4, and $129 (about 170,000 won) for AirPods 5. All three products are available for pre-order starting today. The official release is Sept. 18. Apple Intelligence will support Korean starting Sept. 14, but support for the fully redesigned Siri AI in Korean is scheduled for October.