Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 offer these eight new health and fitness features

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 offer a range of new health and fitness features. Here’s everything new.

Apple today revealed the following features for the two new devices:

• New “health detection system”: A redesigned sensor architecture with three main improvements, including increased electrode surface area for better ECG skin contact, photodiodes arranged in a ring for more efficient light capture, and larger, more energy-efficient green LEDs for accurate heart rate readings during movement.
• Continuous heart rate detection: Heart rate is now measured every five seconds throughout the day, 60 times more frequently than before, visible via a new watch face complication.
• High frequency HRV: Heart rate variability is sampled up to 24 times more often, with distinct recovery and overall HRV values ​​displayed in a new section of the Heart Rate app.
• Display of daytime vital signs: A new toggle allows users to switch between night and day vitals, potentially detecting metric changes before they appear in night readings.
• VO2 Max test: A new test lets users set their iPhone to watch them perform a series of exercises, immediately providing results alongside data from their Apple Watch.
• Most accurate step tracking: A redesigned pedometer model with new machine learning algorithms improves distance accuracy for indoor workouts and all-day step counts.
• Complication of steps: An all-new watch face complication, enabled by the S11 chip, allows users to track their step counts in real time.
• Longer drive battery life: Up to 10 hours during an outdoor workout, 25% more than the previous model, with 15 minutes of charging now providing up to 12 hours of additional battery. The Apple Watch Ultra 4 goes further, with up to 50 hours of daily battery life, 84 hours in low power mode, and a new maximum extended workout mode rated for up to 45 hours of outdoor tracking; 15 minutes of charging adds up to 18 hours of battery.

The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799, with pre-orders for both opening today and available starting Friday, September 18.