After releasing two smartwatches in 2020, Apple’s solid history of a yearly update came to fruition again with the September 2021 announcement of the 7th gen Apple Watch. So what’s new? This watch includes a more robust design, faster charging, new aluminum case colors, watchOS 8, and more.

When Was the Apple Watch Series 7 Released?

There’s been a distinct schedule for Apple Watch releases since Series 1. Using past release dates as our gauge, it was easy to predict that this one would drop in September 2021.

Apple announced the watch on September 14, 2021, at the same event that introduced the iPhone 13 and 2021 iPad mini. Pre-orders followed on October 8, and the watch was officially available on October 15, 2021.

You can order the Apple Watch Series 7 from Apple.com.

Watch Apple announce the new smartwatch on YouTube:

Apple Watch Series 7 Price

The base model for Apple Watch Series 7 starts at $399 (US), the same launch price as the Series 6, 5, and 4 Apple Watches.

Apple Watch Series 7 Features

The 2021 Apple Watch includes an ECG app, Blood Oxygen sensor, and other health and wellness tools. But it also introduced a handful of new features:

  • Improved design: This Apple-branded smartwatch has more screen area (nearly 20 percent more) due to narrower borders, which makes it the largest display on an Apple Watch. It also features more rounded corners and a refractive edge that makes full-screen watch faces and apps appear to seamlessly connect with the curvature of the case. The bigger display allows for a new QWERTY keyboard that can be swiped using QuickPath.
  • More durable: The Series 7 front crystal is over twice as thick at its tallest point than Apple Watch Series 6. It’ll be harder to crack this one!
  • Faster charging: Apple says that due to a new charging architecture, this watch can see a 33 percent faster charge time, so you don’t have to wait as long to juice up your watch for the day. It has 18 hours of battery life on a full charge.
  • Brighter display: The Always-On Retina display is now up to 70 percent brighter indoors than the display on the Series 6.
  • IP6X rating: This marks the first Apple Watch to have an IP6X certification for resistance to dust. You can also take it swimming with 50 meter water resistance.
  • Colors: Brand-new aluminum case colors are available, including midnight, starlight, green, and a new blue and (PRODUCT)Red.
  • watchOS 8: This new OS includes new workout types, the Mindfulness app, accessibility features, updated fall detection algorithms to support falls during workouts, and more. Other changes take advantage of the watch’s larger display, like bigger menu titles and buttons in your apps.
  • Apple Fitness+: Apple Fitness+ introduces guided meditation, the Pilates workout type, the Workouts to Get Ready for Snow Season program, Group Workouts with SharePlay (work out with up to 32 people at once), and expansion to 15 new countries and subtitles in six languages.

Not everything we wanted to see in this watch actually panned out. Maybe the Apple Watch Series 8 will include some of these advancements:

  • Wrist unlock: While it doesn’t sound as commonplace as fingerprint unlock, this might be what we’re looking at if this light field camera patent goes into use with the next Apple Watch. Similar to your finger or face unlocking your phone, you might use your forearm or wrist to prove that you’re the watch owner.
  • Blood glucose tracking: Tracking blood sugar directly from an Apple Watch without a secondary device would be huge, whether you’re diabetic or simply interested in monitoring it. It’s not clear if this Apple patent is referring to blood glucose, specifically, but it does mention a “system for measuring a concentration of a substance.” As handy as it’d be, however, we might need to wait several years to see it.
  • Blood pressure monitoring: Like glucose tracking, Apple Watch can already be paired with other devices to track blood pressure. What we could see in the Series 8 is the built-in ability to read blood pressure. Various patents show Apple is interested in this tech.

Apple Watch Series 7 Hardware

YouTuber and leaker Jon Prosser had renders created from real pictures of the watch in May 2021. As you can see here, Apple confirmed them in a press release covering the new smartwatch:

The Latest News About the Apple Watch Series 7

You can get more smart and connected news from Lifewire. Here are some early rumors and other stories about this Apple Watch:

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