Apple announce the all-new Apple Watch Series 7 and upgrades to Fitness

With the iPad family covered, the presentation moved on to the next product announcement, and that is the Apple Watch. The internet was filled with leaks regarding the new Apple Watch for a few months before the event, and unfortunately, the leaks were completely quashed after the announcement was made.

The Apple Watch Series 7 and upgrades to Fitness

The whole mantra of the Apple Watch has been to act as a fitness coach on your wrist. With its various enhancements covering almost all major aspects of your workout, all Apple really had to do, was keep the product in line with the market today, and in that effect, instead of introducing some of the hyped leak features, they have gone for a subtle refinement of design.

The design of the Apple Watch Series 7 is refined with softer, more rounded corners, and the display has a unique refractive edge that makes full-screen watch faces and apps appear to seamlessly connect with the curvature of the case.

Apple Watch Series 7 is the most durable Apple Watch ever, with a stronger, more crack-resistant front crystal. It is the first Apple Watch to have an IP6X certification for resistance to dust, and maintains a WR50 water resistance rating.

The stunning display of the Apple Watch Series 7 offers nearly 20 percent more screen area and thinner borders at just 1.7 mm — 40 percent smaller than those on Apple Watch Series 6. Through an innovative design that maximizes the screen area while minimally changing the dimensions of the overall case size, Apple Watch Series 7 is available in 41mm and 45mm sizes.

While the wrist is down, the Always-On Retina display is up to 70 percent brighter indoors than that of the Apple Watch Series 6, making it easier to see the watch face without having to lift the wrist or wake the display.

The user interface is optimized to take advantage of the shape and size of the new display. Apple Watch Series 7 offers two additional larger font sizes, and a new QWERTY keyboard that can be tapped or swiped with QuickPath — allowing users to slide a finger to type — and utilizes on-device machine learning to anticipate the next word based on the context, making text entry easier and faster.

Apple Watch Series 7 provides all-day 18-hour battery life on a single charge, and 33 percent faster charging compared with Apple Watch Series 6, through a new charging architecture and Magnetic Fast Charger USB-C Cable.

Apple Watch Series 7 introduces five beautiful new aluminum case finishes, along with a range of new band colors and styles. The entire Apple Watch Series 7 lineup will be available later this fall.

Fitness gets a lot more inclusive with upgrades to Fitness+

Apple recently introduced the Fitness+, which is a fitness program tailored around the Apple Watch, and with this new Series 7, they have brought in a slew of new features for their Fitness+ offering.

The first new feature is guided Meditation, a simple way to practice mindfulness anywhere, anytime, and Pilates, a new low-impact, body-conditioning workout type, on September 27. Fitness+ is also introducing a new program — Workouts to Get Ready for Snow Season — featuring and designed with two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion skier Ted Ligety, along with Fitness+ trainer Anja Garcia. Inspired by winter sports, the program will help build strength, balance, and endurance so users can have more fun on the slopes, all the way to the last run.

In addition to the high-quality video experience on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, the same meditations will be uploaded each week in audio form in the new Mindfulness app on Apple Watch, so users can experience guided Meditation at their convenience anytime, anywhere. With watchOS 8, the Breathe app becomes the Mindfulness app, featuring an enhanced Breathe experience, a new session type called Reflect, and Fitness+ guided Meditations.

Later this fall, Fitness+ will introduce Group Workouts with SharePlay, where users can work out with up to 32 people at once to keep each other motivated. And later this year, Fitness+ will be available in 15 new countries with the addition of Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Fitness+ will be available in English with subtitles in six languages, so more people can experience the workouts led by a diverse and inclusive team of trainers whose approach is tailored to everybody at every fitness level.

Body-conditioning workouts like Strength, Core, and Yoga are among the most popular workouts in Fitness+. Pilates will now be added to Fitness+ as a new low-impact workout type, providing users with more options for maintaining and improving their strength and flexibility. Most Fitness+ Pilates workouts can be done with just a mat, while some also incorporate the use of a resistance band. All Pilates workouts will be 10, 20, or 30 minutes long.

Over 100 million skiers and snowboarders around the world hit the slopes each year to enjoy being outdoors, get some exercise, and spend time with family and friends. To prepare users to get back to their favorite winter sports, Fitness+ is now introducing Workouts to Get Ready for Snow Season, featuring and designed with two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion Ted Ligety, who is recognized as one of the world’s best alpine skiers, along with Fitness+ trainer Anja Garcia, who is an experienced snowboarder.

Fitness+ will add to the popular Artist Spotlight series with new workouts featuring the music of Billie Eilish, Calvin Harris, Imagine Dragons, and Nicki Minaj. The Artist Spotlight series dedicates an entire workout playlist to a single artist. Every Monday for four weeks, new workouts featuring music by each of these artists will appear in the service across different modalities.

Training with friends and family is a great way to stay motivated and accountable on your fitness journey. Later this fall, Group Workouts powered by SharePlay will come to Fitness+, with support for up to 32 people at a time. Users will be able to start a Group Workout from a group message thread or FaceTime call on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV with AirPlay.

Fitness+ is currently available in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. It will be available later this year in Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UAE.

Three months of Apple Fitness+ are included for customers who purchase Apple Watch Series 3 or later, and one month of Fitness+ is included for existing Apple Watch users.

Fitness+ is available as a subscription service for $9.99 (US) per month or $79.99 (US) per year.