The Apple Watch has finally gotten a face lift.
Apple unveiled its newest smart watch at its “California streaming” event Tuesday. The company made the borders of the watch smaller, with the watch face actually extending to partially wrap around the side, for a bigger watch face screen. That also results in bigger buttons on the face, as well as a full keyboard for typing. Apple says the face can fit 50 percent more text than the Series 6. It’s also more durable, Apple says.
There’s a certain demographic the larger buttons are sure to please…
Credit: screenshot: apple
Considering that the Series 6 was pretty much identical to the Series 5, the design changes are welcome, if what you’re looking for is a little variety to spice up your life. The new watch also comes in some pretty fun new aluminum colors, including *starlight.* The starting price is $399.
Rumors had predicted a longer battery life, but that didn’t materialize. Instead, the watch maintains the standard 18 hour charge, but the company claims a new USB-C-powered charge will juice it up 33 percent faster.
The new Apple Watch Series 7 specs
Credit: screenshot: apple
On the health front, there’s no new hardware to take different sorts of measurements. But the watch has added increased workout support for biking, including e-biking, as well as fall detection.
WatchOS 8 powers the new smart watch. Previewed at WWDC this Spring, the OS make some significant changes to wellness features, such as transforming the breathe app into a “Mindfulness” app to guide you through mindful moment exercise. It also introduces the respiratory rate metric to sleep monitoring.
Apple was sparse on details about when you can get your hands on the Series 7: It only said it would be available “later this fall.” That’s possibly due to manufacturing delays, as had been previously reported.
This story is developing…
