Apple Watch Series 7: what changes will it bring?

Announced at Apple’s recent virtual event, the Watch Series 7 will go on sale later in the autumn. You know by now what to expect from Apple’s wearable: activity and exercise tracking, with sensors to monitor your heart rate and blood oxygen, and GPS to track your runs. It links in with your iPhone for notifications, and the Fitness+ service for workouts.

But when the Series 7 goes on sale, what changes will it bring?

Looks

While the Apple Watch Series 7 is still unmistakably an Apple Watch, the Series 7 is ever so slightly bigger. The Series 6 was available in 40mm and 44mm cases; the Series 7 moves to 41mm and 45mm. Your old straps may still fit though, so don't do a clear out just yet.

The new Watch also comes in a few new colours, with the aluminium version of the watch coming in midnight, starlight, green, blue and Product Red.

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Display

The display on the Series 7 Watch is larger. That’s because Apple has shrunk the borders on the watch to make them 40 per cent smaller than the Series 6, giving you a screen that has almost 20 per cent more area.

It’s not just about size though, with the Series 7 display up to 70 per cent brighter than the Series 6. That’s great for reading the watch face indoors, but maybe you might want to dial it down a bit for the cinema or theatre trips.

Durability

That display is also stronger and more durable - and hopefully less prone to picking up scratches - with Apple saying it is more than 50 per cent thicker than the previous Apple Watch.

While the Watch has been water resistant for some time, the missing piece has been the dust resistance, which made taking it near the beach a risky prospect. If you are an active user, you might be pleased to hear that the Apple Watch Series 7 is now IP6X certified for dust resistance.

Battery life

There had been speculation that Apple would boost the battery life of the device -- it currently lasts around 18 hours, which means a charge every day and a half is necessary -- but Series 7 went in a different direction. Apple has swapped out the charging cable from USB A to the newer USB C connection with fast charging capabilities, a move that it says will allow the device to charge about 33 per cent quicker. An eight minute charge, for example, will give you enough charge to track eight hours of sleep, so you can charge your watch for the fifteen minutes or so it takes you to get ready for bed and get more than enough battery life for the night.