Apple Watch Series 12: all-day heart rate tracking and a ceramic comeback

Apple Watch Series 12 is getting its most health-focused software overhaul yet, with continuous heart-rate tracking and a redesigned fitness app arriving this September. Bloomberg (Gurman) reported the details on August 30, confirming two hardware additions alongside the software push. The watch is expected to start at around $399 — the same entry point as the current Series 10 — which means Apple needs these upgrades to land convincingly.

The health pitch

The headline change is a new all-day heart-rate sensor mode. Rather than measuring pulse during workouts or at random intervals, Series 12 and Ultra 4 would record heart-rate data continuously throughout the day. Apple is pairing that with a revamped fitness and health app designed to surface more physical-condition metrics — think recovery scores, strain tracking, and trend graphs closer to what Whoop and Oura already offer on their dedicated wearables. Gurman's words: Apple is "reworking the software to display more metrics related to the user's physical fitness, similar to popular services like Whoop and Oura."

Blood-pressure monitoring remains unconfirmed for Series 12; it may be exclusive to Ultra 4, and FDA clearance is its own hurdle regardless.

The look

The case design carries over from Series 11 — no major shape changes. What's new is a ceramic option in two finishes: white and dark gray, matching colors Apple last offered on the Series 3 back in 2017. New strap colors and configurations are also confirmed. A more dramatic redesign — thinner bezels, new form factor — is what Gurman calls an Apple target for next year, though he flags the timeline could slip to 2027, landing on Series 13 or 14.

What to expect in September

Apple's event is set for September 9 at 7 p.m. CEST (1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT), under the tagline "Surprise and Shine." Pre-orders are expected to open September 12, with deliveries running September 19–26. Series 10 is currently available from $349 refurbished, which sets a realistic bar — Series 12's case for an upgrade rests almost entirely on whether the continuous heart-rate data proves genuinely useful, or just another number on a crowded health dashboard. Macworld describes this as very much a "bridge year" ahead of the bigger hardware rethink to come.