Apple has detailed privacy safeguards for Live Rewind, a new feature on Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 that transcribes the last 15 seconds of speech when users double-press the Digital Crown. The feature runs on the S11 processor's Secure Enclave, processing audio on-device without creating recordings. Apple emphasizes Live Rewind cannot be activated secretly: a mandatory audible chime sounds even in silent mode or with headphones connected, alongside a full-display animation and microphone indicator to alert bystanders.

Text snippets disappear permanently after roughly 30 seconds unless saved to the Siri app. The feature requires an iPhone 16 or later (excluding iPhone 16e), Apple Intelligence, and Siri AI, and is unavailable for users under 13. Live Rewind will launch later this year, not in initial watchOS 27 and iOS 27 releases.

Privacy advocates have compared the continual listening capability to Meta's smart glasses, but Apple maintains the deliberate activation requirement and hardware-isolated processing prevent covert use.