iPhone 18 Pro, Watch Series 12/Ultra 4, AirPods 5: Taiwan Pricing and the Health Sensing System

On September 9, 2026, Apple's Taiwan Newsroom announced iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5 — all four press releases carry that date in their dateline. This article is based only on those four releases; iPhone Duo is covered in a separate article linked at the end.

This article was checked on September 17, 2026, against the four Traditional Chinese press releases published that day on Apple's Taiwan Newsroom. This site has not tested any of the products and offers no purchase or upgrade advice. Unless otherwise noted, all performance, battery-life or accuracy figures are Apple's own test results or claims.

Taiwan Pricing, Pre-Orders and Availability

The iPhone 18 Pro lineup comes in black, silver, glacier blue and the new burgundy red, in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities; Taiwan pricing starts at NT$44,900 for the Pro and NT$49,900 for the Pro Max. Apple Watch Series 12 starts at NT$13,900 and Ultra 4 at NT$27,900; AirPods 5 is NT$4,490, or NT$5,190 for the version with the wireless charging case.

Series 12, Ultra 4 and AirPods 5 are open for pre-order the same day, September 9; the iPhone 18 Pro lineup does not open for pre-order until 8 p.m. Taiwan time on September 12. All of the above go on sale September 18; iPhone 18 Pro additionally reaches another 20 countries and regions starting September 25, though the press release does not list them.

On regional availability, Apple's Taiwan press release describes iPhone 18 Pro's first wave as "65 or more countries and regions," with Taiwan among them; Series 12 and Ultra 4 as "more than 50 countries and regions"; and AirPods 5 as "more than 65 countries and regions." These are three separate figures for three separate products, and in each case Apple names only example countries rather than a full list, so this article does not merge them into one range.

iPhone 18 Pro: Variable-Aperture Camera and the A20 Pro Chip

The iPhone 18 Pro lineup's main camera is a 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera with variable aperture; Apple says this is the first time iPhone has gained aperture control — six laser-cut blades switch between apertures, and Apple's own caption lists three values: opening as wide as ƒ/1.48 in low light, ƒ/1.8 for portraits, and closing to ƒ/4 for group shots.

The press release also describes the "Apple Reference Image" mode: the main camera's new sensor adds a digital signature to every pixel, and shooting in this mode records that signed data, which "Private Cloud Compute" then renders into a reference image that cannot be altered and can be placed side by side with the main image for comparison. Apple also mentions upcoming support for the SynthID standard to help identify AI-generated or -edited images; a footnote says SynthID will arrive in a software update later this year and will apply to most edited images, depending on the edits made.

The A20 Pro chip, Apple says, is built on a 2-nanometer process: the 6-core CPU's memory bandwidth is up 50% over A19 Pro, the 7-core GPU is up to 40% faster, and the dual 16-core Neural Engine totals 32 cores, giving AI performance Apple says is double that of A19 Pro. The vapor chamber's cooling surface area is triple the previous generation, for up to a 40% gain in sustained performance. The N1 chip supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread; the C2 modem uploads significantly faster than C1X while using 15% less power.

On battery life, Apple's Taiwan press release states iPhone 18 Pro plays video for up to 34 hours and Pro Max for up to 43 hours; iPhone 18 Pro can charge to 50% in as fast as about 15 minutes, or 30 minutes wirelessly. Pro Max can also get about 7 hours of video playback from 5 minutes of wired charging. These figures were measured by Apple in July and August 2026 using pre-production units and software; Apple notes actual results may vary.

The Health Sensing System: New Heart-Rate Sensors and the S11 Chip

Series 12 and Ultra 4 share an all-new Health Sensing System: new optical and electrical heart-rate sensors paired with the S11 chip let both watches take a heart-rate reading every five seconds, around the clock. Apple claims this is "the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable," based on its own study — not a third-party review — conducted in July and August 2026 with more than 1,000 participants, comparing against the best-selling wearables on the market as of June 2026.

Heart rate variability (HRV) can now be measured up to 24 times as often as before. Apple offers two metrics: Recovery HRV, for day-to-day stress and recovery signals, and Overall HRV, for a fuller picture of health. Overnight Vitals now adds Recovery HRV analyzed against a personal baseline, and a new daytime Vitals view lets users switch between nighttime and daytime metrics.

The new readiness score analyzes recent activity, training load, Vitals and sleep score into a single 0-to-10 rating, paired with one of four recommendations: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready or Go For It. Apple developed the scoring algorithm using data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study together with its exercise scientists and physicians.

The S11 chip also enables Sound Recognition and Shazam: the former alerts deaf or hard-of-hearing users to sounds such as sirens, alarms, doorbells or a crying baby, and works even when iPhone is not nearby; the latter shows the song and artist in the Smart Stack. Apple says S11 has a dedicated, isolated Secure Exclave that processes audio and deletes it immediately afterward, with the raw audio inaccessible to the operating system, apps, the user or Apple. Both watch press releases also preview a further S11-enabled feature arriving later this year, likewise meant to help deaf or hard-of-hearing users notice important sounds.

How Apple Frames the System: Wellness Use and Taiwan's Regulatory Limits

The sentence most relevant to medical use appears in a footnote: "The Vitals app is intended for wellness purposes only and is not intended for medical use." None of the four press releases states that the Health Sensing System, the every-five-seconds heart rate, HRV, or the readiness score has been approved or certified by any regulator. Two other, existing features each carry their own qualifier: the ECG app is for users 22 years or older, and the Sleep Apnea Notifications feature is for users 18 years or older who have not been diagnosed.

The sentence most relevant to Taiwan appears, identically, in a footnote of both the Series 12 and Ultra 4 Taiwan press releases: "The hypertension notification feature on Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4 will not launch in Taiwan at first, as other regulatory approvals for these models are still in progress. It is expected to launch next year." That footnote does not name a regulator or give a month, and none of the four press releases' body text explains how the feature works or what it measures, so this article does not describe its mechanism or accuracy.

Ultra 4 and AirPods 5: Battery Life and Noise-Cancellation Differences

Ultra 4 comes in natural and black titanium cases, with day-to-day battery life of up to 2 days, or up to 50 hours; up to 84 hours in Low Power Mode; and up to 18 additional hours of battery life from a 15-minute charge. Extended Workout mode, with full GPS and heart-rate tracking, runs up to 25 hours, a 25% gain over the previous model; Max Extended Workout mode can track outdoor runs, walks and hikes for up to 45 hours, which Apple describes as "typically enough to finish a 100-mile race."

Apple claims Ultra 4 has "the most accurate on-device GPS in a sports watch," based on route-mapping accuracy in demanding urban environments, compared in August 2026 against the industry-leading dual-frequency GPS sports watches on the market at the time, with data processed on-device.

AirPods 5 is built around noise cancellation for an open-ear design: Apple claims it delivers the best-in-class open-ear "Active Noise Cancellation," canceling up to 50% more noise than the AirPods 4 ANC model, measured to the IEC 60268-24 standard. The version with the wireless charging case adds a force sensor for sliding to adjust volume, plus longer battery life. Live Translation, powered by Apple Intelligence, is now supported, Apple says, across the AirPods lineup, though not in every language or region.

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