Apple chief executive Tim Cook introduces Watch Series 7. Photo: Apple
Apple chief executive Tim Cook introduces Watch Series 7. Photo: Apple
Apple chief executive Tim Cook introduces Watch Series 7. Photo: Apple
Apple chief executive Tim Cook introduces Watch Series 7. Photo: Apple

Seven things you need to know about Apple Watch Series 7


Alvin R Cabral
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Apple recently launched its Watch Series 7, alongside the iPhone 13 line-up, as it seeks to maintain its lead in the global wearables market.

The world’s most valuable company continues to lead the race, commanding a 28.2 per cent share, according to the International Data Corporation’s latest quarterly wearable device tracker.

“Despite early signs of slower consumer tech spending, purchases of wearable devices remained strong during the quarter as consumers once again ventured outdoors with the urge to track their health and activity,” the IDC said.

Apple Watches have primarily focused on health tech features. The pandemic locked fitness buffs away from their usual outdoor routines, but now that restrictions have largely been lifted, Apple is aiming to gain more market share by offering a revamped Watch.

Here are seven things you need to know about Watch Series 7.

Bigger screen

Apple Watch Series 7's screen is 20 per cent bigger compared to Series 6 and 50 per cent larger against Series 3. Courtesy Apple
Apple Watch Series 7's screen is 20 per cent bigger compared to Series 6 and 50 per cent larger against Series 3. Courtesy Apple

From humble beginnings of 38mm and 42mm, Apple Watches’ dials have grown to 41mm and 45mm. Compared with the most recent upgrades of 40mm and 44mm, the new versions don’t seem to, pound for pound, make that much of a difference, especially if you put Series 6 and Series 7 side by side. But the real deal is in the screen: the new watches are 20 per cent bigger than Series 6 and a whopping 50 per cent larger than Series 3, thanks to borders that are now 40 per cent smaller.

Those changes result in bigger on-screen content; upon glancing at the passcode screen, you’ll immediately notice the big difference, and punching in text or numbers won’t be that much of a problem. This had previously dogged the Apple Watch – some found content could be too small, especially for those with big fingers. You can now adjust the text size, and the latest watch is also 70 per cent brighter than its predecessor, making the display more comfortable to glance at even under bright sunlight.

There are reports that Apple may release a more rugged version of the Apple Watch, so Series 7 could be a precursor to it.

A QWERTY keyboard

The QWERTY keyboard on Apple Watch Series 7. Courtesy Apple
The QWERTY keyboard on Apple Watch Series 7. Courtesy Apple

What do you do when you have a bigger display on your wrist? Slap in a full keyboard. For the first time, a Qwerty keyboard will be on Series 7. It also features QuickPath, which lets you spell out text by sliding your finger without lifting the iPhone.

This particular feature will come in handy in situations when it’s too noisy to dictate or you don’t want others to hear what you’re saying. The disadvantage here is that you are limited to one finger and the keys may be too small for some – unless you remove your Watch and use your thumbs.

Faster charging

Apple Watch Series 7 can have 80 per cent of battery life with just 45 minutes of charging. Courtesy Apple
Apple Watch Series 7 can have 80 per cent of battery life with just 45 minutes of charging. Courtesy Apple

Series 7’s battery would still last as long as Series 6 with “all day” battery life, meaning you’d probably have about 15 to 20 per cent left after a day with it.

Apple also boosted its charging speed, with Series 7 charging 33 per cent more quickly than its predecessor. The company claims it takes a mere 45 minutes for Series 7 to zip from zero to 80 per cent, and eight minutes of charging will be good enough for a night’s sleep tracking. Its magnetic charger is now equipped with USB-C, replacing the traditional Lightning connector.

We did a side-by-side Series 6 and Series 7 charging marathon and, so far, the latter almost lives up to its billing. It went up to 77 per cent in 45 minutes, and it was fully charged 15 minutes sooner than Series 6. Users have long clamoured for longer battery life on the Apple Watch, and while that’s still pending, Apple hasn’t done this yet. Maybe the decision to speed up charging is a consolation, because you can charge in spurts during the day and won’t have to worry about whether to plug it in while you sleep.

Durability on steroids

Apple Watch Series 7 is the most durable in the line-up and is crack-resistant. Courtesy Apple
Apple Watch Series 7 is the most durable in the line-up and is crack-resistant. Courtesy Apple

As with any new Apple Watch (or for practically any gadget, for that matter), Series 7 is the most durable by far. Its “robust geometry” makes it thicker and thus it should be stronger, complemented by what Apple says is its most crack-resistant front crystal. That crystal now has a flat base, which offers further reinforcement to amp up its resilience game.

Series 7 is also the first in the line-up to be certified IP6X, which is the highest dust-resistance rating. It’s still swim-proof, rated WR50 for 50-metre water resistance so you can wear it in the shower, pool or sea. We highly recommend, however, to limit its use in the last location, because saltwater can really be a troublemaker with circuit boards.

Exclusive watch faces

Apple Watch Series 7 has new and exclusive watch faces. Courtesy Apple
Apple Watch Series 7 has new and exclusive watch faces. Courtesy Apple

Thanks to the larger screen, Apple was able to experiment with and use two exclusive watch faces to Series 7. Contour is a mid-century modern-style design, with the numbers on the dial bleeding to the edge of the display. Upon raising your wrist, the numbers grow and animate, just like the magnifying effect on macOS’ dock. Modular Duo, meanwhile, is the first and only watch face to accommodate two large, data-rich centre complications, such as heart rate, activity, world time or weather.

A new but non-exclusive, yet very useful, face is world time, which lets you track all time zones at once. Sun and moon icons reflect sunrise and sunset where you are, while the light and dark zones represent day and night moving around Earth. It can be overwhelming at first glance, but you’ll get the hang of it. Bigger screens would seem to favour health buffs, according to a Research Gate study on watch faces.

New aluminium builds

Apple Watch Series 7 has five new aluminium builds. Courtesy Apple
Apple Watch Series 7 has five new aluminium builds. Courtesy Apple

Midnight, starlight, green, blue and red – those are the new exclusive aluminium colours on Series 7, aside from the mainstays silver, gold, graphite, space black and titanium. As mentioned earlier, they’re more durable and project a different shade when viewed from afar and up close.

Prices remain the same

Apple Watch Series 7 features new bands. Courtesy Apple
Apple Watch Series 7 features new bands. Courtesy Apple

Getting more for the same price tag should always mean something. Series 7 prices are similar to those of Series 6, with the GPS and LTE versions of the 41mm option at Dh1,599 and Dh1,999, respectively, while the 45mm variant will fetch Dh1,719 and Dh2,119.

Apple, in recent years, has used this game plan across new lines of its products, or at the very least, with a negligible difference. Not bad for a strategy once described as “insanely smart”.

World Cricket League Division 2

In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.

UAE fixtures

Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final

'Munich: The Edge of War'

Director: Christian Schwochow

Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons

Rating: 3/5

Race card:

6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m

7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m

7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m

8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m

8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m

9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m

10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

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Huddersfield Town permanent signings:

  • Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
  • Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
  • Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
  • Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
  • Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Neymar's bio

Total club appearances 411

Total goals scored 241

Appearances for Barca 186

Goals scored for Barca 105

Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)

Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am)
Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)

INFO

Everton 0

Arsenal 0

Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)

Tuesday's fixtures
Group A
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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N Korea v UAE, 10.15pm
What is an ETF?

An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.

There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.

The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash. 

Not Dark Yet

Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer

Four stars

Lexus LX700h specs

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Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
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Emirates exiles

Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.

Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.

Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.

Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

THE SPECS

Aston Martin Rapide AMR

Engine: 6.0-litre V12

Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic

Power: 595bhp

Torque: 630Nm

Price: Dh999,563

Updated: October 14, 2021, 4:25 AM`