Apple

Jul 21, 2026BF1W-0033Right

What chip does the Apple Watch Series 12 use?

MacRumors: leaked code points to new Apple Watch chip

Leaked Apple code indicates the Series 12 will get a new chip.

MacRumors reported that leaked Apple code indicated the Apple Watch Series 12 would get a new chip, ending a one-year hiatus after three straight years on the S10.

How to read this record

  1. What was reportedLeaked Apple code indicates the Series 12 will get a new chip.
  2. Who said it, and whenIt was reported on Jul 21, 2026 in MacRumors, and we could not tell who reported it first.
  3. What happened, and whenApple Watch Series 12 was announced on Sep 9, 2026, 50 days after this report.
  4. The verdict, and whyRightIt turned out the way this report said.Why: Series 12 runs the S11 chip against Series 11's S10, so the new chip arrived. What the company published
What do these words mean?
Right
It turned out the way this report said.
Partly right
Some of this was right and some of it was not.
Wrong
It did not turn out this way.
Moving target
This was right about the plan at the time. The company then changed it.
Never settled
The company has announced the product and nobody ever confirmed or denied this.
Not comparable
This measured a different thing from the number the company published, so the two cannot be compared.
No outcome yet
Nothing has happened yet that would prove this right or wrong.
Not checked yet
The company has answered this. We have not finished checking this one.
Checked
Checked means the company has since given an answer and we compared it with what was reported. Details still waiting on an answer, details nothing can settle, details where the plan itself changed, and details we have not finished reviewing are all counted separately and are not part of that number.
Moving target
A moving target is a report that described the plan accurately at the time, on a product the company then changed. We count these on their own: it would flatter a reporter to call them right, and it would blame a reporter for a decision that was not theirs to call them wrong.
Reported by
Original source unclear
We read it in
MacRumors
Product
Apple Watch Series 12
Read it at MacRumors

The story of this report

  1. Jul 21, 2026This report · MacRumors
  2. Sep 9, 2026Apple Watch Series 12 was announced · official source
  3. VerdictRightWhat it means, and why, is in the box above.

What we know now

Our stories about Apple Watch Series 12

Other reports about Apple Watch Series 12

29 reports about Apple Watch Series 12 from 10 sources. Of the 9 we have checked, 5 held up.

See all 29 reports about Apple Watch Series 12

Other claims sourced to the same article

The article above is cited on these roadmap entries too. That is a shared source, not a statement that this report was about them.

Questions about this report

What chip does the Apple Watch Series 12 use?
Right. It turned out the way this report said. Series 12 runs the S11 chip against Series 11's S10, so the new chip arrived.
How far ahead of the announcement was it?
That was 50 days before Apple Watch Series 12 was announced on Sep 9, 2026.