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During its “Surprise and Shine” event on Wednesday, Apple took the wraps off several products, including the latest iPhone 18 Pro lineup, the foldable iPhone Duo and the Apple Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4. The new smartwatches come with updated specs across the board, but some of the software touches that Apple has included really make the new devices stand out.
One of the more interesting new features for Apple Watch is Audio Intelligence, which uses the built-in microphones to do some helpful things. Apple says that this will allow you to make more sense of the world around you from what you hear.
Apple/Screenshot by CNETThere are three standout features here, all of which are novel for a smartwatch. The first focuses on staying aware of ambient sounds you might otherwise miss, which could be incredibly helpful for people with hearing loss. Both the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 can listen for sounds like alarms, sirens, doorbells and more, and send you a notification when it identifies one of them. Since it uses on-device AI, these notifications can still be sent to you even if you don’t have your iPhone with you.
Live Rewind can transcribe an important conversation you just missed.Apple/Screenshot by CNETApple’s also introducing a new feature called Live Rewind. With the new Apple Watches, if you get hit with a ton of information — say, a waitress blurting out a series of lunch specials that you can’t quite keep up with — you can ask your Apple Watch instead of reaching back out. All you’ll need to do is double-tap the crown on your compatible Apple Watch, and it will transcribe the last 15 seconds of what was just said to you. From there, you’ll be able to ask Siri about the transcribed content or save it in the Siri app to view later.
Siri Recap will give you high-level notes from your most important conversations you can save for later.Apple/Screenshot by CNETLastly, there’s Siri Recap. Apple says the new feature uses ambient listening to take high-level notes from your conversations so you can be more present in everyday life. These notes will generate a “recap” that will serve up key information from the conversations. Apple Intelligence will generate a title for the recap, along with a general summary and key points, so you always know what was said.
If that sounds a little creepy to you, the Siri Recap feature is optional, and you can turn it off any time you want to. You can also set up a schedule so it only works at night or whenever you’d like it to.
None of the Audio Intelligence features actually create or store any audio recordings for your privacy, and the audio itself is inaccessible, including to Apple itself. Moreover, all Live Rewind transcripts and Siri Recap in the Siri app are end-to-end encrypted.
Live Rewind and Siri Recap require Siri AI, which will be released in beta later this year in English, with more languages to follow.
Blake has over a decade of experience writing for the web, with a focus on mobile phones, where he covered the smartphone boom of the 2010s and the broader tech scene. When he's not in front of a keyboard, you'll most likely find him playing video games or watching horror movies. See full bio
