Apple Watch Series 12: What to Expect

With all the attention focused on the foldable iPhone that Apple is expected to debut next week, we haven’t heard much about the company’s plans for this year’s Apple Watch Series 12. By all accounts, it’s expected to be another mostly iterative update, but some new insider info from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests we could see at least one interesting new health feature.

Sadly, it’s not the mythic blood glucose sensor, which remains at least a few years away, or even more accurate blood pressure monitoring, which also remains a tough nut to crack. Instead, this year Apple is looking at a seemingly more modest but valuable improvement.

Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring

Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says that Apple is testing a feature that would allow the heart-rate sensor to offer continuous monitoring, rather than only taking periodic spot-checks.

From the advent of the Apple Watch twelve years ago, the heart rate monitoring feature has only kicked into full gear when you’re doing a workout or when you specifically open the Heart Rate app. Otherwise, it just checks at random intervals throughout the day.

Moving to continuous heart rate monitoring would be very useful, especially for detecting conditions like atrial fibrillation, but it also wouldn’t necessarily be novel. Gurman suggests it would simply leave the workout tracking mode on all the time. While current Apple Watch models leave the sensor on for a few minutes after a workout, this would be a boon for those looking for longer recovery tracking intervals.

Sensor Upgrades

Still, there’s a battery hit involved in doing something like that, so it’s possible Apple may also be upgrading the heart rate sensor in the process. After all, it’s already been through three generations of optical heart rate sensors, so it could be time for a fourth.

Generational upgrades of the sensors have traditionally been paired with new health features — the ECG and blood oxygen monitoring — so it’s unclear if continuous monitoring warrants a whole new sensor array. It depends on what hoops Apple needs to jump through to make it work without killing the battery.

New Chip and Design Changes

The Series 12 is also expected to move to a new chip that will be an actual upgrade to the internal silicon. Whether Apple labels it the S11 or jumps straight to S12 to realign the processor branding with the hardware remains to be seen, but it’s roughly on schedule either way.

Ceramic Case and Design Changes

The Apple Watch Series 12 is expected to look virtually identical to the Series 11, except for one optional upgrade: the return of ceramic. Gurman’s sources say that Apple has tested both white and dark gray ceramics for this year’s Series 12, which are reportedly referred to internally as “iceman.”

Lastly, Gurman reiterates the rumors that the Apple Watch Series 13 could be in for a “big redesign” next year, which seems roughly on schedule.

Please note that the information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Take all rumors with a grain of salt.

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