New Apple Watch feature labelled 'straight out of Black Mirror' as consumers creeped out
Apple is introducing a new feature designed to help forgetful folks, but the majority of people think it's invasive rather than innovative.
The tech giant unveiled its latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watches on Wednesday (9 September), as well as the advanced AI capabilities of Siri.
Apple boss John Ternus, who stepped into Tim Cook's shoes at the beginning of the month, debuted the company's first-ever foldable iPhone as well as revealing its controversial price tag.
But people are more preoccupied with him introducing 'Audio Intelligence', a new feature that will be rolled out with the Apple Watch Series 12, which promises to provide 'advanced health and fitness features'.
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"Apple Watch Series 12 is the most advanced health and fitness companion we’ve ever created," Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Apple Watch Product Marketing, Kaiann Drance, said.
"With our new Health Sensing System and S11 chip, Apple Watch Series 12 gives you meaningful insights, like readiness, so you can better understand how to take on your day and care for your health, plus intelligence features that make everyday life easier.
"And it’s all wrapped in a beautifully thin, light design you’ll love wearing all day and night."
Those who enjoy sporting this sort of tech on their wrist will also be able to 'stay alert to important sounds', while also 'staying present', according to Apple.
That's because this new Apple Watch, which costs upwards of £369, will boast a feature known as 'Audio Intelligence'.
Apple describes this as a way to 'help users stay aware of the world around them, catch what they missed, and remember key moments - with user control, privacy, security, and accessibility at the centre of its design'.
New features of the Apple Watch
The watches have a built-in microphone, which will be put to work a lot more than the ones in previous models.
Apple explained that this new generation of timepieces will be able to alert users who are deaf or hard of hearing of important sounds, such as sirens, alarms, doorbells, or a baby crying, by using on-device intelligence to notify users when they’re detected.
The 'Live Rewind' feature explained
The California-based company also announced a controversial feature called 'Live Rewind', which was created to 'help users recall what was just said in conversation'.
Apple said: "A double press of the Digital Crown shows the previous 15 seconds of a conversation as a text snippet, so the user can catch something they may have missed or are less familiar with. Users can ask Siri about the content of the text or save it to the Siri app to revisit later.
"Siri Recap, which can create high-level summaries of conversations that users can review later to jog their memory. When Siri Recap is turned on, after a conversation, Apple Intelligence automatically generates a title and key points in the new Siri app, allowing users to be more present and engaged in the moment."
An 'incredibly creepy' concept
The idea of Apple Watches now recording conversations has not gone down well with a lot of people, as many have suggested it's Black Mirror-esque.
Taking to social media, one person said: "Do they not realise how incredibly creepy this is?"
A second wrote: "Just gonna have to tattoo 'I do not consent to being recorded' on my forehead at this point."
And a third added: "This was literally a Black Mirror episode."
Others were more welcoming to the introduction of 'Audio Intelligence', but the overwhelming majority weren't thrilled by the idea.
Apple said that this new feature does not create or store audio recordings, while insisting that operating systems, apps, the user, or Apple cannot access them.
How Audio Intelligence works
Explaining how it works, the firm said: "This is because the S11 chip on Apple Watch Series 12 includes Secure Exclave, a dedicated hardware-isolated compartment that processes audio in complete isolation from the rest of the system, then immediately deletes it. Users are in control and can choose whether to opt in to each Audio Intelligence feature. They can decide exactly where and when Siri Recap takes notes, and can turn Siri Recap on or off at any time, right from Control Center.
"By design, Audio Intelligence features do not identify and attribute speakers, to protect the privacy of both the user and those around them. Siri Recap produces a brief, high-level summary of conversations — not a transcript — and is designed to exclude sensitive information like financial information or government-assigned identifiers. Live Rewind plays an audible chime when it is being used, even if Apple Watch is on silent, and shows a full-display animation and microphone indicator so people nearby can hear and see that the feature has been activated."
So, you might want to listen out for that audible chime before you go spilling your secrets when the Apple Watch Series 12 launches on 18 September.
What else did Apple announce at its autumn event?
Aside from its new watches, the tech company also unveiled a plethora of new tech and upgrades. Here's the full rundown.
iPhone duo
Its big-ticket item of the event was the iPhone Duo, the first new folding iPhone, which it claims will do the job of two gadgets in one.
When unfolded, it looks more like the size of a tablet, but when folded up it's more the size of a large phone.
Apple boasted the Duo had 'up to 40 percent higher stiffness' compared to other devices on the market, and said it meant that the new iPhone wouldn't become damaged over time when it was being folded and unfolded.
On the inside, it's got an A20 Pro chip for performance, and has their most advanced technology stuffed inside a foldable design, and it's going to be eSIM only.
Two batteries are inside the device, which Apple says gives you up to 24 hours per charge when using both of the screens, and they claim you can charge it up halfway in just a matter of minutes.
While the camera has been adapted so the phone can be folded over, it's still of the same calibre as the one that comes with the iPhone 18 range.
iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max
Among the new features, Apple says its new 18 Pro Max has the longest battery life of any iPhone to date, while the iPhone 18 Pro is said to have the same battery life as the 17 Pro Max, so it should still be fairly decent. The tech giant claims it'll take just 15 minutes to charge the phone to 50 percent using a wired connection.
As well as this, the new A20 is said to deliver 'up to 40 percent improved graphics performance', while the company has also introduced a new feature called Apple Reference Image, which helps to verify the authenticity of photos.
“With iPhone 18 Pro, we’ve made advancements to the areas our users care about most: camera, performance, battery, and intelligence. And we didn’t just make incremental improvements in these areas — we took huge leaps forward to create the best Pro iPhone we’ve ever made,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
New and improved Health app
The announcement had a big focus on health and fitness, so it's no surprise the company has tried to elevate its Health app using Apple Intelligence.
New features include the all-new readiness score, a Health Age score, a new Longevity tab and personalised fitness suggestions based on your scores.
According to Apple, its new Health app also allows users to take in-depth assessments of how well their bodies are moving.
AirPods 5
Apple says its new AirPods deliver 'the industry’s best Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) in an open-ear design and even better sound quality' which 'removes up to 50 percent more external noise compared to AirPods 4'.
There are two options customers can go for: the slightly cheaper entry-level AirPods 5, or the AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case, which the company says 'adds longer battery life and on-stem volume control'.
Topics: Apple, Technology, Weird, iPhone
Olivia Burke