Apple Unveils Watch Series 12 with New Audio Features
Apple introduced the Watch Series 12, featuring Live Rewind and Siri Recap, which use on-device AI to capture and summarize spoken content, while the company says raw audio will remain inaccessible to Apple.
Apple announced its latest hardware at a fall event led by CEO John Ternus, including the Watch Series 12 and a foldable iPhone dubbed iPhone Duo. The new watch incorporates an AI-driven Siri and two features called Live Rewind and Siri Recap, grouped under Apple Intelligence’s Audio Intelligence suite.
Live Rewind allows users to double-press the digital crown to obtain a transcript of the previous 15 seconds of conversation. Siri Recap continuously captures ambient speech to generate summaries and key points, with options to enable it constantly or on a schedule.
"Apple Watch is always on your wrist, and with Apple Intelligence on your iPhone, it’s the perfect device to help you stay aware of the sounds around you and keep track of your conversations," said Ron Huang, Apple’s vice president of sensing and connectivity.
"This is great for when you’re trying to recall a book recommendation, a colleague’s brilliant idea, or something you didn’t hear the first time," Huang added.
Apple emphasized that raw audio recordings will be stored locally and will not be accessible to the company, and that the system will not identify individual speakers. The Live Rewind function will emit an audible chime when activated, intended to alert nearby individuals that a recording is occurring. Apple did not specify whether a similar alert will accompany Siri Recap.
Industry observers have noted potential privacy concerns related to continuous ambient listening, especially regarding bystanders who have not consented to being recorded. Apple’s statement on privacy safeguards aims to address these issues as the features become available.