Overview
- Apple will unveil the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 at its “Surprise and shine” event on Sept. 9, 2026, according to the company announcement and multiple reports.
- Bloomberg reports Apple is testing always‑on heart‑rate monitoring that would collect heart‑rate data throughout the day, though it is unconfirmed and may not ship broadly because of battery and regulatory trade‑offs.
- The next watches are expected to include a new S‑class system chip (reported as S11 or newer) to deliver faster performance and better energy efficiency to support continuous sensing and on‑device AI features.
- Apple has tested returning a ceramic ‘Edition’ case in white and dark gray and plans many new band colors, while sources say no major physical redesign will arrive this year and features like Touch ID and an SE4 are unlikely.
- The moves aim to close gaps with wellness specialists such as Whoop, Oura and Garmin by surfacing richer wellness metrics, while larger hardware changes and long‑range sensors like blood‑sugar monitoring remain multi‑year projects.