Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 introduce automatic music recognition

Apple has introduced new features and hardware variations with the release of the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. Both models utilize the S11 chip and share similar health monitoring capabilities, including heart rate tracking, ECG, blood oxygen saturation, sleep scores, and wrist temperature measurements.

The Apple Watch Ultra 4 is designed for rugged use, featuring a larger 49 mm frame, a brighter 3000 nits display, and a longer battery life of up to 50 hours. It also includes specialized hardware such as a dual-frequency GPS, an action button, a siren, and enhanced water resistance for diving up to 40 meters. In contrast, the Series 12 offers a more subtle design in 42 mm or 46 mm sizes with a 2000 nits display and up to 24 hours of battery life.

A notable software integration for the Series 12 and Ultra 4 is automatic music recognition via Shazam. Using Apple’s Audio Intelligence and the Always On processor, the watches can detect background music and automatically display the song title and artist in the Smart Stack without manual input. This feature can be toggled on or off via the watch settings.