Apple Unveils Apple Watch Series 12, Ultra 4, AirPods 5 and Foldable iPhone Duo

The iPhone Duo has a 5.4-inch outer screen and a 7.6-inch inner display. Apple unified the aspect ratios so content scales between the two screens, and the phone supports split-screen dual apps, dual windows within one app and saved app combinations, ifanr reported. Duo Preview sends the camera framing image to the outer screen, while Duo FaceTime lets people outside a call join through the outer screen and camera. The report described the device as Apple's answer to foldable phones and noted the Duo name was previously used for the 1992 PowerBook Duo and the 2020 MagSafe Duo charger; Microsoft and Google also used Duo for Surface Duo and Google Duo.

Apple Watch Series 12 keeps 42-millimeter and 46-millimeter sizes. Aluminum cases come in deep bronze, black, light gold and space gray; titanium versions come in gold and natural. Apple also brought back a ceramic case in pearl white and night blue, starting at 7,499 yuan. The screen is an LTPO3 wide-angle OLED always-on retina display with up to 2,000 nits, and aluminum models use Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple says is 60 percent more damage-resistant than the Ion-X glass on Series 11. The watch uses the S11 chip and a rebuilt health sensing system with new optical and electrode heart rate sensors. The optical sensor has a larger, more efficient green LED and can collect heart rate every five seconds; HRV measurement frequency is up to 24 times higher, with separate recovery HRV and overall HRV metrics.

A new Readiness feature combines recent activity, training load, vital signs and sleep score into a 0-10 rating, with four states: “take it easy,” “do what you can,” “ready to go” and “all out,” according to the report. The score updates throughout the day and users can tap it to see contributing factors. The Vitals app adds a daytime view and nighttime recovery HRV. Apple says the feature is for general wellness, not medical diagnosis. The S11 chip also supports a rebuilt step-counting model and improved distance accuracy for indoor walking and running, plus a step-count complication on the watch face.

The watch also gains Siri AI, which can use a broader knowledge base and personal information and supports follow-up questions. A conversation started on iPhone can continue on the watch, with chat history synced through iCloud. Audio Intelligence uses the watch microphone, S11 chip and Apple Intelligence to recognize environmental sounds and revisit recent conversations. Sound Recognition can monitor doorbells, alarms and baby cries, and Shazam can identify music. Live Rewind, triggered by double-clicking the Digital Crown, transcribes the previous 15 seconds of conversation; Siri Recap generates notes with titles, summaries and key points. Apple says audio intelligence does not create playable or forwardable recordings; raw audio is processed in the S11 chip's Secure Exclave and deleted immediately, and Siri Recap processes encrypted audio via the paired iPhone and Apple's private cloud. Live Rewind plays a tone and shows a full-screen animation even in silent mode or with headphones connected.

The report said Siri AI, Live Rewind and Siri Recap are not available in mainland China. Siri AI will launch in English beta with watchOS 27 on September 14; Live Rewind and Siri Recap will arrive later this year, initially in English. The latter two features work only with Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone 16 or later; the iPhone 16e is not supported.

Apple Watch Ultra 4 has a 49-millimeter titanium case in natural and black, an LTPO3 wide-angle OLED always-on retina display with up to 3,000 nits, the S11 chip, the new health sensing system and Readiness. It keeps dual-band GPS and 5G cellular. Its main upgrade is outdoor training battery life: with Extended Power Training mode and full GPS and heart rate collection, it can record up to 25 hours, 25 percent more than the previous generation. In Maximum Extended Power Training mode, outdoor running, walking and hiking can record up to 45 hours with one GPS fix per second. That mode turns off notifications and single-segment recording and loses some training metrics. Series 12 lasts up to 24 hours in regular use, 38 hours in low power mode and up to 10 hours of outdoor training recording, a 25 percent increase. Ultra 4 lasts up to 50 hours normally and up to 84 hours in low power mode. Series 12 starts at 2,999 yuan and Ultra 4 at 6,499 yuan. Preorders open September 11 at 9 a.m., with sales on September 18.

AirPods 5 come in two versions, both with active noise cancellation as standard, a change from AirPods 4. Both use the H2 chip and keep the open-ear, no-tip design. The base version has a USB-C charging case; the higher version has a wireless charging case, supports volume adjustment by swiping the stem and offers longer battery life. Apple says the new porous acoustic architecture and adaptive EQ, similar in approach to AirPods Pro 3, adjust sound to each ear shape, with personalized spatial audio and dynamic head tracking. Active noise cancellation is up to 50 percent better than AirPods 4 with ANC, and transparency, adaptive audio and conversation awareness are improved. Voice isolation, studio-quality audio recording and Siri head gestures for accepting or rejecting calls and notifications are also included. With ANC on, the USB-C case model offers up to 4 hours of listening, the wireless case model up to 5 hours, and the latter up to 22 hours with the case; with ANC off, the two models offer up to 6 and 7 hours. Prices are 999 yuan for the USB-C case version and 1,149 yuan for the wireless case version. Preorders are open, with sales on September 18.

Editor's Summary

Apple used its fall event to position Apple Watch, AirPods and the new iPhone Duo as part of its AI hardware push, adding health, audio intelligence and foldable-screen features across the lineup. The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 bring new sensors, Readiness scoring and longer training battery life, while AirPods 5 make active noise cancellation standard. The iPhone Duo, introduced with the revived Duo name, is Apple's foldable iPhone, according to ifanr.