With the Apple Watch Series 7 unveiling inching closer and closer, one top analyst just revealed all the new watch faces Apple is planning for the wearable's larger display. This fall is shaping up to be a busy one for Apple. Over the next couple of months, Apple's expected to announce the iPhone 13 series, Apple Watch Series 7, AirPods 3, new MacBook Pro models, and a completely overhauled iPad mini.
Among all of those gadgets, the Apple Watch Series 7 stands out as one of the most exciting. While no major upgrades are expected for health tracking features, 2021 looks to be the year Apple doubles down on hardware. After using the same design since 2018, rumor has it that the Apple Watch Series 7 will usher in the second major design refresh the wearable has ever seen — including flat sides, slimmer bezels, and larger screens.
Apple analyst Mark Gurman corroborated those design rumors yet again on September 2, reinforcing Apple will sell the Series 7 in 41mm and 45mm sizes (a notable upgrade over the 40mm and 44mm options available today). Going a step beyond the current rumors, however, Gurman goes on to say that the increased case size will result in a larger display area as well. Compared to the 1.78-inch screen found on the 44mm Apple Watch Series 6, the 45mm Apple Watch Series 7 apparently cranks things up to a 1.9-inch display — an increase of nearly 16-percent. That also results in a higher resolution than what's available today, with Apple going from 368 x 448 to 396 x 484. Gurman does not disclose the display size or resolution for the 41mm Series 7, though it's safe to assume similar upgrades are also present with it.
All The New Watch Faces Coming To Apple Watch Series 7
While a larger Apple Watch screen will certainly be nice for viewing notifications and using apps, the main benefit will reportedly come from new watch faces Apple's developed exclusively for Series 7. The most interesting is one called Modular Max. Similar to the existing Infographic Modular watch face, Modular Max shows the time, date, and one complication/app shortcut towards the top of the screen. Where Infographic Modular then shows just one large complication towards the bottom, Modular Max has room for two of these. Atlas and World Time, another rumored watch face, will "let a user see all 24 time zones simultaneously. An external dial shows the time zones, while the inner dial shows the time in each location. Users will be able to choose to see the time in either digital or analog."
In addition to cramming more information on the Apple Watch, it also sounds like Apple's using the added screen real estate to have a bit of fun. Another face, called Continuum, will reportedly change its design "based on the flow of time and the current hour." Last but not least, Apple is also developing Series 7 faces exclusive for the Hermes and Nike versions. The new Hermes face will feature "numbers that change hour by hour," whereas the Nike one has numbers which change according to someone's movement.
It is important to note that some of these may not make the cut for launch. Gurman prefaces his explanation of the watch faces by saying, "at least some of which may ship with the new model." Based on what's detailed here, let's hope all of them end up shipping on the Series 7. As much as the Apple Watch gets right, the lack of third-party watch faces continues to be one of its biggest sticking points. If Apple has a handful of fresh faces cooked up, it might as well release all of them and give folks a few new looks to play with.
Source: Bloomberg