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- 9 hours ago
Deciding between the Apple Watch Series 12, Ultra 4, and the budget-friendly SE 3? This year, the choice is more complicated than ever with controversial new AI features and a fundamental redesign of the health sensors. We break down what really matters before you buy.
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00:00Wait, my watch is doing what?
00:02We need to have a very honest conversation
00:05before you press buy on a new Apple Watch.
00:09Choosing an Apple Watch used to be simple.
00:11Buy the SE to save money,
00:13buy the series model for the slim bezels,
00:15or buy the Ultra for the battery life and rugged sports.
00:19But this year, that logic completely breaks down.
00:23Your decision actually comes down
00:24to two major hardware thresholds.
00:27A physical redesign under the back crystal
00:29that fundamentally changes health tracking,
00:32and a new AI feature set that is making nearly everyone
00:35I talk to already feel extremely uncomfortable.
00:40And after spending time with these watches,
00:42I actually think one of those changes
00:45matters way more than the other.
00:46So if you're trying to decide whether the Series 12
00:50or Ultra 4 are actually worth the money,
00:52or whether you should just save on the SE3 instead,
00:55here's what you need to know.
01:00Let's start with the controversial one.
01:02The Series 12 and Ultra 4 introduced something Apple
01:05is calling audio intelligence, and it's exclusive to
01:08and powered by the S11 chip.
01:10And these are the two audio intelligence features
01:13you need to know about.
01:14Live Rewind and Siri Recap.
01:17Neither is available for me to demonstrate yet,
01:19but Live Rewind essentially gives your Apple Watch
01:21a 15-second rolling memory of what's just been said around you.
01:25In practice, you're going to double press the digital crown,
01:28and the watch can surface a transcript of the last 15 seconds.
01:33This is for sure a hot take, but I actually think there's a compelling use case here.
01:38If you struggle with ADHD, struggle with auditory processing,
01:42or just have a tendency to miss what someone says,
01:45being able to essentially rewind a sentence could be genuinely useful.
01:50But Siri Recap is where things get considerably more complicated.
01:55Instead of just recalling those 15 seconds on demand,
01:58Siri Recap uses those audio ambient passes to create an itemized summary of your day.
02:03And I think that's where the reaction shifts from,
02:06oh, that's useful, to wait, my watch is doing what?
02:10So the privacy architecture here is incredibly important.
02:15According to Apple, the raw audio isn't saved, uploaded, or even retrievable by you.
02:21Audio is buffered locally.
02:23Machine learning processes it using the secure exclave.
02:26And then the raw audio is erased.
02:28What remains is encrypted data representing what the system identified.
02:33And audio intelligence requires you to explicitly opt in.
02:37For some added security measures, Live Rewind also plays an audible chime,
02:41even if your watch is on silent, and puts a little microphone indicator on the screen,
02:46while Siri Recap doesn't identify individual speakers and is designed to exclude sensitive information.
02:52For me, that makes this considerably less alarming than the phrase always listening makes it sound.
02:58But it doesn't completely resolve the issue.
03:01Because even if Apple never receives the recording, the people standing around you don't necessarily agree to have their conversations
03:09processed by the computer on your wrist.
03:12And that is the social question Apple is going to have to overcome,
03:16especially as cameras and microphones and ambient AI become increasingly common in things like smart glasses.
03:23Personally, Live Rewind is a feature here I could actually see myself using.
03:28Siri Recap, I'm going to need considerably more time with it before I'm convinced that I want a wearable computer
03:35summarizing my day back to me.
03:36If ambient AI is a non-starter immediate turnoff, the SE3 skips audio intelligence completely and saves you some money
03:45in the process too.
03:46But if Live Rewind sounds genuinely useful, Series 12 is your way in, but I definitely wouldn't spend Ultra 4
03:53money just for audio intelligence.
03:58The far more practical reason to upgrade to the Series 12 or Ultra 4 is actually hiding in the back
04:04glass.
04:05And this is the single biggest reason the SE3 is no longer my automatic recommendation.
04:11Historically, you weren't giving up that much in terms of health tracking capabilities by buying the cheaper Apple Watch.
04:17This year, you are.
04:19The Ultra 4 and Series 12 now use eight trapezoidal photodiodes arranged in concentric rings around the larger green LEDs.
04:27Combined with improved efficiency of the new hardware, Apple can now continuously sample using the green light throughout the day
04:35without completely destroying your battery life.
04:37There is also a very small quality of life benefit I wasn't expecting to care about, but now I love
04:43it.
04:43If you sleep with an Apple Watch, you might know the common experience of rolling over and suddenly seeing that
04:49bright green sensor light escaping from underneath your wrist.
04:53The new geometry does a much better job containing that light against your skin.
04:58And with the Series 12, I'm seeing considerably less of that annoying green glow.
05:03Tiny upgrade, but if you sleep with your Apple Watch every night, you'll probably appreciate it every night.
05:08More importantly, though, you can actually see the difference the continuous sampling makes while you're awake.
05:14Your heart rate complication is updating in real time.
05:17And then inside the heart rate app, there's a rolling two minute chart and HRV, including overnight and recovery data,
05:25is much easier to surface now directly from the watch.
05:27So if you're working out and trying to maintain a heart rate zone or if you're wondering why your heart
05:32rate may have suddenly spiked, you're getting a much more immediate picture of what's happening.
05:37And this is where the buying decision gets pretty interesting.
05:40If you mostly want an Apple Watch for notifications, steps, occasional workouts and basic health tracking, the SE3 does still
05:48do those things perfectly well.
05:50You do not need to spend $150 more just because Apple put eight trapezoids on the back of a watch.
05:56But if health and fitness tracking are a major reason you wear an Apple Watch, this is fundamentally better sensing
06:04hardware.
06:05And unlike an app update, Apple just can't add that to the SE3 later.
06:09The new sensor also helps power a new daytime vitals view alongside overnight vitals that we already had.
06:15So the watch can now potentially flag shifts in your metrics during the day before you even go to sleep.
06:21And of course, better sensors only matter if Apple actually does something useful with all of this extra data.
06:28Some of that will come through the redesigned health app later this year, which Apple says will put more emphasis
06:34on things like sleep trends, heart data and longevity metrics.
06:38I can't yet judge that experience at all because the new health app isn't available yet.
06:43And that's going to be a recurring caveat with the series 12.
06:46Apple is selling you hardware today for some experiences that aren't completely finished yet.
06:51But one thing I could start testing is the new readiness score.
06:54Mine hasn't actually been generated yet because the watch needs seven nights with at least four hours of sleep to
07:00establish a baseline, which I'm just a little bit embarrassed to admit I haven't given it.
07:05But as someone who already uses an aura ring every day to gauge recovery, native readiness on Apple Watch is
07:11one of the additions I'm definitely most excited about.
07:16Now, there is one other health related feature on the series 12 and Ultra 4 that isn't getting nearly enough
07:23headline coverage, but one that Apple Watch users have wanted forever.
07:28Steps.
07:28Yes, steps.
07:31Apple redesigned its pedometer engine within the new chip with improvements particularly aimed at distance estimates during things like indoor
07:39walks and treadmill runs.
07:40But honestly, that's not what most people are going to notice.
07:44They're going to notice that there is finally a native real time steps complication.
07:50No third party app, no delayed syncing.
07:53You can just look at your Apple Watch and see your steps updating while you walk.
07:57It sounds ridiculous that I'm celebrating this on an Apple Watch in 2026.
08:01I'm fully aware, but here we are.
08:05And all of this gets to why I'm much more bullish about the series 12 than I expected to be.
08:10Audio intelligence is the flashy upgrade.
08:13Siri recap is going to generate headlines, but it's continuous heart rate sensing, better recovery information and more useful real
08:20time activity data that are the things that actually change the experience of wearing this watch every day.
08:27Which brings me to a feature that I know for a fact ultimately determines which of these three watches you'll
08:34want to buy.
08:35And that is how long you can actually wear them.
08:39The SE3 is still rated for 18 hours.
08:42That's workable.
08:43But if you're trying to track activity all day and sleep all night, you're going to have to be pretty
08:48intentional about your charging habits.
08:50The series 12 maintains 24 hour everyday battery life despite all of this higher frequency sensing while outdoor workout battery
08:57life actually increases to 10 hours.
09:00Then there's ultra for 50 hours.
09:03That's more than double the series 12 and a nice little boost from the older ultra watches.
09:07And fast charging means 15 minutes on the charger can give you another 18 hours of use.
09:12And this is the main reason I would consider spending ultra money.
09:16The ultra is for the person who genuinely needs multi day endurance along, of course, with the added durability, outdoor
09:24and diving capabilities that already define the ultra line.
09:27If that's not you, I think the series 12 makes a lot more sense.
09:35After going through everything that's actually new, I think Apple flipped the lineup more than a little bit this year.
09:41The SE used to be the Apple watch I could recommend almost automatically to anyone who asked me which one
09:47they should buy.
09:48It is still a very good smartwatch.
09:50In fact, if you primarily want basic notifications, activity tracking and those Apple watch features on your wrist for as
09:57little money as possible, it's probably all you need.
10:00This year, it's also the obvious choice if you actively don't want any of that ambient audio intelligence running on
10:06your watch.
10:07But you're making a bigger hardware compromise this year.
10:10If health and fitness are a major part of why you own an Apple watch, I think the series 12
10:15is extremely worth it.
10:17And importantly, I'm not saying that because of Siri recap, because of health age or because of some AI feature
10:23that Apple showed on stage that I can't even properly test yet.
10:27It's because the new sensor hardware, continuous heart rate tracking, better recovery information, real time steps and 24 hour battery
10:35life affect what the watch can do every single day.
10:39And this is what Apple watch upgrades are going to be based on going forward.
10:43So in other words, it's far more future proof.
10:46So for most people buying a new Apple watch this year, series 12 is my pick.
10:52And then there's the ultra four.
10:54I actually think buying advice for this is the easiest.
10:58Don't buy the ultra four because you want Apple's best health tracking.
11:02The series 12 gives you that.
11:03Spend the extra money because you specifically need what makes an ultra and ultra 50 hours of battery life, extreme
11:11durability, diving capability, that massive screen or just those serious outdoor features.
11:16But to summarize one more time, SE three for the basics and lowest price series 12 for almost everyone else
11:23ultra four, if you already know exactly why you need an ultra.
11:28And that is a very different recommendation than I would have given you guys a year ago.
11:32I'm going to keep testing all three of these watches, especially audio intelligence readiness and the new health features as
11:39they become actually available to test.
11:41So if there's something specific you want to see, make sure to let me know in the comments.
11:46That's it for this one.
11:48Thanks for watching.
11:48I will catch you next time.