Apple Watch Series 7 release date finally announced, as new and delayed wearable set to hit stores

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The new Apple Watch will hit shelves next week.

Apple announced the new wearable alongside the iPhone 13, during an event last month. But it said at the time only that it would be appearing “later this fall”.

The release was apparently delayed as a result of much-rumoured production problems.

Now Apple has said that pre-orders for the new Watch will open on Friday, 8 October, at 5am local pacific time. They will arrive in customers’ hands and be available a week later, on 15 October.

It did not give any indication of how widely available the new Watch will be when it launches. Even on the day of the iPhone’s release, many found that their new products would not arrive for weeks, and it is possible the same delays will be experienced with the new Watch.

Ahead of the launch event last month, many rumours had suggested that Apple would be undertaking a complete redesign of the Watch. Reports indicated that the Watch would get flat sides, in keeping with the new design that arrived with the iPad and has since made its way to the iPhone and iMac.

But when it arrived, the Watch was more similar to the existing one, with new features but no dramatic change in its look.

Those new features include what Apple says is a “reengineered Always-On Retina display with significantly more screen area and thinner borders”. It also has more rounded edges, and the display sweeps into those sides so that it appears to continue right to the edge of the Watch.

It also has new software features to make the most of that new display. It has a new user interface, a traditional ‘Qwerty’ keyboard and two new faces that go all the way to the edge.

The new Watch also comes in a range of colours, including aluminium cases that match the colours of the new iPhone 13.