Apple’s September 9 event delivered a lot: the foldable iPhone Duo, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, AirPods 5, and a major Health app upgrade. But the announcement that broke the internet was Audio Intelligence on the Apple Watch Series 12. The feature includes Live Rewind, which displays the previous 15 seconds of a conversation as text on your wrist, and Siri Recap, which summarizes conversations for you.
Apple came prepared with the privacy talking points. Audio is processed in a hardware-isolated Secure Exclave, deleted immediately, never stored, and users must opt in to each feature individually. New CEO John Ternus and Apple’s marketing team made the case on stage. Social media was not persuaded.“Do they not realise how incredibly creepy this is?”reads one widely shared reaction. Another pointed out that some people will do everything except simply ask someone to repeat themselves.
And that’s the real question underneath all the jokes. It’s not about whether your own watch records you, because you chose that. It’s about what happens when someone else’s watch is sitting across the table from you, quietly turning your conversation into text you never consented to. The Apple Watch Series 12 launches September 18 starting at £369, so this debate is only getting louder. Would you wear one, or does this cross a line for you?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.