Apple announced on September 9, 2026, the release of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, which include enhanced fitness tracking and new audio features. The smartwatches come with four opt-in 'audio intelligence' tools that utilize the devices' microphones. These features include sound and music recognition, a conversation recap feature, and 'Live Rewind,' which allows users to view a transcription of audio from the previous 15 seconds.
Apple emphasizes that these features prioritize user privacy and security, stating that they do not create or store audio recordings. Raw audio used for processing is inaccessible to operating systems, apps, users, or Apple. The audio intelligence tools are designed to process data locally on the devices to minimize the transmission of sensitive information to the cloud. For instance, Sound Recognition alerts users to environmental sounds without sending data off the watch.
The new S11 chips in the Apple Watch enable expanded on-device capabilities, including a Secure Exclave, which is a protected space for processing audio data. The Shazam feature listens for music and generates a signature stored in the Secure Exclave, which is sent to Shazam’s servers for identification without transmitting an audio file.
The Siri Recap feature can be activated to generate recaps of conversations, using a dedicated AI model to detect speech without recording or transcribing data. Audio is encrypted and transmitted to a paired iPhone, where it is transcribed and processed before being deleted from both devices. The iPhone uses local speech recognition to create a minimal transcript, omitting nonessential elements and sensitive information.
The Live Rewind feature allows users to request a text version of the last 15 seconds of audio. This feature continuously holds audio in the Secure Exclave, replacing old sound with new. Users must double-press the Digital Crown to activate it, and if the paired iPhone is unavailable, the audio is deleted.
Apple has implemented an audible chime when initiating a Live Rewind transcript to alert those nearby. The company has invested significantly in secure AI processing infrastructure, highlighting the growing complexity of AI tools and the potential privacy implications associated with them.