Apple Watch Series 12 review: Catching up and catching heat

The new wearable’s controversial audio features aren’t available yet, but there are plenty of upgrades here. Apple Watch Series 12 review: Catching up and catching heat. Reviews Wearables Apple Watch Series 12 review: Catching up and catching heat The new wearable’s controversial audio features aren’t available yet, but there are plenty of upgrades here.

While the company’s latest smartwatch had worthwhile updates like a redesigned health sensing array, new gesture support, a revived Ceramic case and improved battery performance, it felt like they were quickly forgotten. In the aftermath of the keynote presentation, people seemed lost in the controversy around two new Apple Watch features: Siri Recaps and Live Rewind. They’re part of a new suite of Audio Intelligence tools that use the Series 12’s microphone to listen to sounds and speech around the wearer and deliver notifications, transcripts or summaries.

In its typical privacy-minded way, Apple took pains to explain how the Series 12’s S11 chip and dedicated Secure Exclave made those features more private than the alternative methods currently available. And as has become somewhat usual for Apple lately, Live Rewind and Siri Recaps won’t actually be available until some vague "later this year" timeframe. Since I wasn’t able to test them yet, my mission in this review is much simpler.

I spent about seven days with the Apple Watch Series 12 and focused on what I could actually try.