Apple has officially unveiled the Watch Series 7 at its California Streaming event, with the smartwatch featuring a bigger display, faster charging and a more durable design.

Despite rumours suggesting that the new iteration would feature a square-case redesign, the latest Apple Watch maintains roughly the same design as its predecessors, though the screen has now been pushed closer to the edges.

With 40% smaller bezels (now measuring in at just 1.7mm around the edge), it allows for a full keyboard - a first for the smartwatch series - and more advanced watch faces, with the durability of the watch also upped from previous models.

It's still swim-proof, though the dust protection is now rated IPX6, which means the Apple Watch will finally be able to handle a trip to the beach as well as it can handle a swim in the sea. Apple notes the screen is also more resistant to cracks.

Interestingly, the case size has changed slightly from the previous three generations - moving from 40mm to 41mm for the smaller variant, and 44mm to 45mm in the larger version. This makes them the largest Apple Watch models we've ever seen.

The 18-hour battery life has been retained from the Series 6, despite the larger display, with charging receiving its first big change. The puck will still function as before, though the Series 7 will ships with a USB-C cable, rather than the standard USB-A, allowing for quicker charging.

During the event, Apple also showed us some watchOS 8 features that were previously unknown. Improvements to outdoor cycling mean that Apple smartwatches should now be able to more reliably automatically pause a workout, while Fall Detection support is also being added.

This should mean that the device will be able to detect a crash on your bike or a slip during a class, for example, before offering the usual support for contacting emergency services.

The standard version of the new watch - with the aluminium case - will come in a choice of five different colours: black, gold, blue, red and dark green.

And, in terms of pricing, the Series 7 will start at $399. Apple also announced that Watch Series 3, released back in 2017, will still be available for $199, with last year's Watch SE available for $279.

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