Apple Watch Series 7 comes in 41mm and 45mm sizes and your old bands will fit fine

Apple Watch Series 7 Lifestyle Press Photo
Apple Watch Series 7 Lifestyle Press Photo (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple's new Apple Watch Series 7 does come in 41mm and 45mm configurations as was rumored.
  • The new watch will continue to work with existing watch bands, despite the change in size.

Following yesterday's California Streaming announcement we're still awaiting news on when Apple Watch Series 7 will go on sale. We do know a couple of things, though — starting with the fact that the new watch will be sold in 41mm and 45mm configurations.

That's a rumor that at first seemed attached to claims of a full Apple Watch redesign. That didn't happen, but Apple has been able to make the screens larger "while minimally changing the dimensions of the overall case size."

The stunning display of Apple Watch Series 7 offers nearly 20 percent more screen area and thinner borders at just 1.7 mm — 40 percent smaller than those on Apple Watch Series 6. Through an innovative design that maximizes the screen area while minimally changing the dimensions of the overall case size, Apple Watch Series 7 is available in 41mm and 45mm sizes. While the wrist is down, the Always-On Retina display is up to 70 percent brighter indoors than that of Apple Watch Series 6, making it easier to see the watch face without having to lift the wrist or wake the display.

Apple Watch Series 7 Colors Press

Apple Watch Series 7 Colors Press (Image credit: Apple)

Some rumors had suggested that a change in Apple Watch screen size could lead to a problem for existing watch band collectors — namely, their bands might not work with the new watches. Thankfully, Apple has also confirmed that isn't the case at all — any band you already own will work just fine with Apple Watch Series 7. What's more, any of the new Apple Watch bands announced during yesterday's event will work equally well with your older Apple Watch, too.

Emphasis mine:

The Apple Watch Series 7 collection unveils five brand new aluminum case colors, including midnight, starlight, green, and a new blue and (PRODUCT)RED, along with an exciting palette of Apple Watch bands compatible with all models of Apple Watch. Additionally, Apple Watch Series 7 offers backward compatibility with previously released Apple Watch bands. Stainless steel models, Apple Watch Edition, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Series 3 continue in existing colors.

That's great to hear and it means that we can all upgrade to the best Apple Watch ever made without having to ditch our existing collection of bands in the process.

Now we wait for Apple to tell us exactly when we'll be able to do that.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.