Three All-New 'Audio Intelligence' Features Arrive With Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

Apple has unveiled three new audio intelligence features to accompany the launch of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. The Audio Intelligence suite, which leverages the built-in microphone, aims to help users capture important moments and sounds during conversations. Four key features make up the new Audio Intelligence suite: Siri Recap, Live Rewind, Shazam, and Sound Recognition.

Siri Recap generates high-level notes from conversations, providing a summary and key points that can be reviewed within the Siri app. Users can opt-in or configure Siri Recap to listen at specific times, such as work hours, and can toggle the feature on or off from Control Center. Live Rewind allows users to rewind 15 seconds of a conversation by pressing the Digital Crown twice, transcribing and displaying the last spoken words.

This feature is limited to iPhone 16 or later models, excluding the iPhone 16e. Shazam automatically identifies nearby music and displays the song title and artist on the Music Recognition widget in the Smart Stack. Lastly, Sound Recognition brings sound alerts to Apple Watch users who are deaf or hard of hearing, alerting them to sirens, alarms, doorbells, or crying babies.

This feature works even when an iPhone isn't nearby. Apple emphasizes that none of the Audio Intelligence features record or store audio, as raw audio is processed in an isolated Secure Exclave on the S11 chip and deleted immediately after use. The Audio Intelligence and Siri AI features require an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, with Live Rewind and Siri Recap limited to iPhone 16 or later models.

The features are currently in beta and will initially be available in English, with additional languages to follow, not initially available in the EU.