Introduction
Apple has unveiled its latest flagship wearables: the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. These devices bring a blend of familiar design, subtle hardware refinements, and notably, new Siri AI capabilities that promise to reshape how users interact with their wrists. Perhaps most striking is the return of ceramic cases, a material choice that had been absent from recent generations. In this hands-on overview, we get up close with both models to see what’s new, what’s improved, and what still leaves room for interpretation.
The Hardware: Ceramic Returns
Let’s start with the most visually distinctive change: the reintroduction of ceramic as a case material. Available on the Series 12, the ceramic finish is smooth, cool to the touch, and offers a premium aesthetic that stands apart from the standard aluminum and stainless steel options. It also brings a durability advantage—ceramic is less prone to scratching than polished metal, though it remains susceptible to chipping on hard impacts. Functionally, the ceramic casing does not add significant weight, and it maintains the same water resistance and sensor array as the rest of the lineup.
The Ultra 4, meanwhile, continues to target adventurers with a titanium chassis, which Apple claims is “aerospace-grade” and reinforced for extreme conditions. It shares many internal components with the Series 12, but the Ultra’s larger battery and more rugged build remain its key selling points.
New Siri AI Features
The headline software upgrade across both models is the incorporation of an on-device large language model that underpins Siri’s new “Proactive Compose” and “Intelligent Health Summaries.”
Proactive Compose is a clever take on productivity—it can draft replies to messages in your natural tone of voice, learning from your past responses to suggest phrasing that feels genuinely yours. During our testing, it struggled slightly with humor and slang, often defaulting to polite and formal language, but it is a significant step forward from the canned responses Siri offered before.
Intelligent Health Summaries is arguably more compelling for daily use. The watch now aggregates your activity, heart rate variability, sleep staging, and even blood oxygen trends into a concise, jargon-free summary each morning. It can flag anomalies—like a resting heart rate that’s 10% above your baseline—and offers contextual suggestions sourced from Apple’s health database, such as “consider a lighter workout today.” This feature felt genuinely useful, less alarmist than many third-party health apps, and it sets the stage for a more advisory role for the watch in preventive care.
We should note that both features require the new S9 chip (or later) and are optimized for watchOS 12. They perform reliably in English (US and UK), but international language support remains limited at launch.
Battery Life and Charging
In our hands-on time, the Series 12 achieved nearly 22 hours of typical use, which is marginal improvement over the Series 10 but still means nightly charging is the norm. The Ultra 4, however, is the endurance champion—easily exceeding 44 hours with continuous workout tracking and GPS. Both support fast charging, bringing the Series 12 from 0 to 80% in about 40 minutes and the Ultra 4 slightly longer.
Performance and Display
Both models feature the S9 chip, though Apple has tweaked the neural engine for improved efficiency. The displays remain largely unchanged—a 2000-nit peak brightness on the Series 12 and 3000 nits on the Ultra 4—which is more than adequate outdoors. The always-on mode is now more adaptive, dimming in dark rooms and brightening in direct sunlight without lag.
Interaction-wise, the new “double tap” gesture, which allows for answering calls or advancing widgets by tapping your index finger and thumb together, is more responsive than in the previous generation. It is particularly useful when your other hand is occupied, but we found it sometimes misfires when you’re making a fist during workouts—a minor annoyance that will likely be patched.
The Verdict So Far
The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 are not revolutionary—they refine an already mature formula. But the addition of on-device AI makes them feel more intelligent and attentive, and the return of ceramic introduces a touch of luxury that Apple had abandoned for years. If you’re upgrading from a Series 8 or older, the jump in processing power, health tracking, and now AI features is substantial. For those on a Series 10 or Ultra 2, the question comes down to whether you value the ceramic aesthetic or the smarter Siri enough to justify the cost—and that may be a personal call.
As 2026 unfolds, we expect these AI features to evolve rapidly, and we’ll be following up with a full in-depth review to see how they hold up over months of daily wear.
via The Verge