The Apple Watch 7 is expected to go on sale in the next few weeks, but we've still yet to see the design of the smartwatch outside of the company's own press imagery and videos.
Or at least, we hadn't seen it outside of that until now, as the Apple Watch Series 7 has been spotted in the flesh on a Facebook group for Apple Watch owners. Spotted by MacRumors, the images show what is thought to be the upcoming smartwatch in three photos.
Although we can't be certain if the photos are genuine, they come from a source that says they work for a carrier, so it's plausible they have access to the smartwatch ahead of time.
- See the best Apple Watch 7 pre-order deals
- The very best smartwatches
- Our iPhone 13 Pro review
- When is the next Apple Event?
Since they were first published, the photos have been taken down by the source but then reobtained by MacRumors. You can see what the smartwatch may look like with the hands-on photos below.
The design, unsurprisingly, matches what we've seen in promotional materials from Apple, but it's interesting to see what the new design looks like in real life.
The Apple Watch 7 features a larger screen than previous iterations of the smartwatch, and it's noticeably larger in these hands-on images.
You can also clearly see the curvature of the screen in these images, which has sometimes been difficult to spot in press imagery directly from Apple.
Analysis: design is the most significant change
The Apple Watch 7 upgrades look limited on paper, so it's thought that the design will be the most significant change for anyone who's upgrading from an Apple Watch 4 or newer.
Other changes here involve an improved IP6X rating to give you better water resistance.
Beyond that, this smartwatch features essentially the same chipset as the Apple Watch Series 6, which may be a disappointment to those who like to upgrade their smartwatch whenever a new one is unveiled.
Even the fitness features are similar to the Apple Watch 6, but the new watchOS 8 software brings with it improved cycling tracking.
All of this said, the iPhone 13 series looked to be a limited upgrade in its spec list but each of those handsets have added up to an important change for each model. Perhaps the Apple Watch 7 will do similar for your wrist?
Via XDA Developers
