Apple Employees Who Completed This Year's 'Close Your Rings' Challenge Receive Shirt and Congratulatory Card

Apple each year hosts a company wide fitness challenge for its employees at corporate offices and retail stores around the world, tasking participants to close all three of their Apple Watch Activity Rings every day of the month.

appleemployeeactivityshirt
The challenge is normally held in February as part of Heart Month, but this year's challenge was delayed due to the ongoing public health crisis that had people staying in their homes for the early months of the year.

Apple reinstated the activity challenge on Monday, July 20, and it ran through Sunday, August 16. Employees who participated and successfully closed their rings each day are now receiving their award, which is an Apple-designed t-shirt that says "2020" in a logo with Apple Watch Activity-style rings.

The t-shirt is accompanied by a congratulatory card, but Apple appears to have skipped the pins that have been provided with past challenges. Apple has held these challenges each year. In 2018 and 2019, employees received an exclusive Apple Watch band with Activity ring colors.

Apple's annual February fitness challenges are internal only and limited to Apple employees, but Apple also regularly holds public fitness challenges, though these come with digital achievement awards rather than physical rewards.

The next Apple Watch Activity Challenge, which celebrates national parks, is set to take place on August 30. Apple Watch owners can complete the challenge by recording a walk, hike, roll, or run of a mile.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...

Top Rated Comments

jonnysods Avatar
68 months ago
I like that even though there is so much negativity in 2020, Apple are still having fun and engaging their staff.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Macintosh 128K Avatar
68 months ago

Looks very cheap. Would be better giving them a nice discount at Apple Store.
They already get a very nice discount at the Apple Store.

Wow, nothing but complaints from people here. Did your own workplace give you gold Porsche for working out a little bit? What kinda amazing rewards have you been compensated with for doing some very basic things for a month?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kuwxman Avatar
68 months ago
Richest company in the world has to watch those costs. No pins for you!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unity451 Avatar
68 months ago
"I closed all my rings in 2020 and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
68 months ago
I wouldn’t mind having the shirt. Nice move by Apple to encourage more employees to exercise.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BreepBreep Avatar
68 months ago

I did and I spoke to that.
Doesn’t mean that employees didn’t complain.

I wasn’t one of them but then again I got a MacBook Pro tricked out at 25% off and then an additional $500 off of that. Watch for 50% off. $100 free towards commute expenses each month.

the list goes on but I also know tech companies that have personal chef on site.

Going to Apple campus is same except the price is heavily subsidized vs free.
“No one is complaining” wasn’t meant to be taken literally. Every company has complaints, and Apple isn’t perfect. Point is that employees are generally very happy and value their jobs. Some seem to miss things like thousands of employees sitting at home collecting paychecks for months. And they have no idea what other benefits they’ve gotten during COVID because they’re not supposed to know. This is why Apple keeps stuff like this a secret. If they gave everyone free MacBooks, the narrative would be that employees are spoiled at the cost of customers. They know it’s a lose-lose for them either way. Best to just treat employees as best as they can and not brag about it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)