Apple Watch Series 7: New colours, larger crack-resistant display and faster charging

The Apple Watch Series 7 has been officially revealed and it offers a couple of notable upgrades. Unlike the flat edge design that was speculated earlier, it retains the same design as the current Series 6. The new Apple Watch gets a more advanced display with slimmer bezels and it promises to offer better durability with a crack-resistant front crystal.

The Series 7 now comes in larger 41mm and 45mm sizes, which is an extra 1mm wider than the previous model. According to Apple, the borders are now 1.7mm thin which is 40% smaller than the Series 6. As a result, it offers almost 20% more screen area which enables it to offer a better user interface.

Besides being able to display larger buttons, the Series 7 also offers a virtual QWERTY keyboard for text input along with a collection of new watch faces that stretch closer to the edge. It still retains an OLED-based Always-on retina display but it is now up to 70% brighter indoors compared to its predecessor. Despite the larger size, you’ll be happy to know that the Series 7 is still backward compatible with all previous Apple Watch bands.

One of its key highlights is its “crack-resistant front crystal” making it the most durable Apple Watch yet. Apple claims that the new model offers a stronger and more robust geometry that is 50% thicker and it is now more crack-resistant without compromising on optical clarity. Besides being water-resistant up to 50-metres, the Series 7 now gets IP6X dust resistance and it can withstand harsh environments such as the desert or on the beach.

Apple still carries over most of its health features from the previous model. It still gets an electrical heart sensor with ECG and the ability to measure your blood oxygen levels. At the moment, Apple has not released the full product page and spec-sheet so we don’t know what chip it uses and its connectivity features.

The Apple Watch Series 7 still boasts an “all-day” 18 hours of battery life on a single charge but it now offers 33% faster charging via a new USB-C cable. The company claims that you can charge from 0 to 80% in just 45 minutes and a quick 8-minute charge is enough to provide 8 hours of battery life for sleep tracking.

The new Watch comes in 5 colours for its aluminium case – Midnight, Starlight, Green, Blue and Red. If you’re looking for something more premium, it is also available in stainless steel and titanium finishes.

As expected, the new smartwatch isn’t available for purchase just yet and it is tentatively set to be released later this year. There’s no Malaysian pricing yet and the Series 7 is priced from USD 399 (about RM1,660) in the US. The Series 6 is expected to be discontinued soon but you can still order it from the official online store. If you’re looking for more affordable Watch options, Apple is still retaining the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 3.

Apple has already reduced the price for the Apple Watch SE to RM1,199 for the 40mm size and RM1,349 for the 44mm variant. Meanwhile, the pricing for the 4-year-old Apple Watch Series 3 remains unchanged and it starts from RM849 for the 38mm size and RM999 for the 42mm version.

For more info, you can check out the Apple Watch Series 7 page.