Apple Watch Series 12 Review: Health Focus and Battery Boost
Apple has launched the Apple Watch Series 12, featuring advanced health readiness tracking, improved battery life, and the S11 processor. Base aluminum models start at 1,799 NIS in Israel.
Apple has introduced the Apple Watch Series 12, focusing heavily on health, wellness, and battery life improvements. The device features advanced sensors and new health readiness scoring, aligning Apple with competitors like Whoop, Garmin, Oura, and Fitbit.
The standout addition is the readiness score, which uses a week-long calibration period to analyze sleep patterns, physiological metrics, and activity levels. Apple continues to measure these metrics throughout the day, updating the score dynamically without charging a subscription fee. Additionally, the heart rate sensor has been upgraded with larger LED diodes and higher sampling frequencies, taking readings every five seconds for enhanced accuracy in resting heart rate and heart rate variability tracking.
Battery life has also seen a notable improvement. While Apple historically struggled to exceed 18 hours of operation under heavy loads, the Series 12 comfortably surpasses the official 24-hour mark thanks to an efficient dual-processor architecture. Charging speeds have been accelerated as well, with a 15-minute charge providing roughly half a day of battery life and a full charge taking approximately 45 minutes.
Under the hood, the watch is powered by the new S11 processor, ensuring smooth navigation across applications. The Series 12 maintains familiar casing sizes of 42mm and 46mm, utilizing an Always-On OLED display with a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Alongside traditional aluminum and titanium finishes, Apple has reintroduced a ceramic casing option for the first time since the fifth generation in 2019.
In Israel, base aluminum models start at 1,799 NIS and scale up to 2,480 NIS depending on connectivity options, according to iDigital pricing. Titanium models cost around 3,000 NIS, while the premium ceramic version exceeds 4,000 NIS. Competition in the broader smart watch market remains intense, facing rivals such as the Google Pixel Watch 5, Samsung Galaxy Watch9, and the cross-platform Garmin Venu 4.
