Head to head
Apple Apple Watch Series 12 42mmvsApple Apple Watch Series 12 46mm
- Released
- 2026-09-18Apple UK Newsroom — Apple Watch Series 12, retrieved 2026-09-13
- Price
- £369Apple UK store, retrieved 2026-09-13
- Security updates until
- Not published by the makerApple UK — watchOS 27 compatible models, retrieved 2026-09-22
- Released
- 2026-09-18Apple UK Newsroom — Apple Watch Series 12, retrieved 2026-09-13
- Price
- £419Apple UK store — Series 12 46mm aluminium GPS, retrieved 2026-09-22
- Security updates until
- Not published by the makerApple UK — watchOS 27 compatible models, retrieved 2026-09-22
0 wins for Apple Watch Series 12 42mm0 wins for Apple Watch Series 12 46mm1 gap borderline0 differences you won’t notice£50 apart at RRP
Verdict: nothing you’d notice between them
On the makers’ published figures, neither the Apple Watch Series 12 42mm nor the Apple Watch Series 12 46mm wins a row by a gap you would notice. One gap is borderline, a difference most people would not notice: weight (case only) (32.2 g against 39.5 g) for the Apple Watch Series 12 42mm. Both state the same peak brightness, battery life (maker's claim) and charge to 80%. The other 25 rows have no threshold or no direction to judge by, so nobody wins them.
True to scale
Case outlines from each maker’s published dimensions, drawn to scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
A win is marked only where the figures can be ranked and the gap is one you could notice on the wrist. A row the site has no threshold for says whether the two differ, and that it is not ranking them. = marks the same figure on both, ≠ not ranked a difference with no ranking. Every figure carries its source.
Body
Display
Platform
Battery
Health
Connectivity
6 attributes neither watch has a sourced figure for
Strap width · Display size · RAM · Battery capacity · Blood pressure · Cellular model price. Rows appear as sources are cited — a gap in our data, not a statement about either watch.
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either watch would also weigh. Any two watches in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.