Apple Executives Discuss Optimizations for Larger Apple Watch Series 7 Display, Lack of Third-Party Watch Faces

watchOS on the Apple Watch Series 7 is optimized for its larger display. Now, Apple executives Alan Dye and Stan Ng have explained some of the rationale behind watchOS's tweaks for the Series 7 in an interview with CNET.

apple watch series 7 green
Alan Dye is Apple's vice president of interface design and Stan Ng is the company's vice president of product marketing. They explained that Apple chose to increase the display size of the Apple Watch with the Series 7 due to a need for easier-to-read text to improve accessibility:

We had the opportunity to allow users to increase the point size [for text] even larger than we've allowed for in the past. That was very much motivated by the new display... [it will be] far more useful and accessible to a lot of users who just need the larger point size.

Ng said that the refractive border of the Apple Watch Series 7's front crystal drove the company's design decisions for watchOS and explained how the refractive edge works:

This refractive edge creates this very subtle wraparound effect. And it makes the screen appear to bend downward, right toward the watch housing. Really, it's an optical effect, it's due to the way the light from the OLED refracts at the edges of the front crystal. We redesigned that crystal to be more of a dome shape, which also contributed to the thicker crystal and the greater durability. So it was kind of a twofer for both.

The decision to create watch faces that emphasize the curvature of the display's edges apparently came after the development of the new front crystal. Dye said that "Once we started to play with this new crystal and the display, that's where all those subtle design decisions were made to push those ticks out to the very edge of the display to highlight some of these effects."

The Apple Watch offers a full on-screen keyboard for the first time with the Series 7 that also works with QuickPath. According to Dye, Apple chose not to add distinct areas for each key to make the keyboard less cramped, but also to suggest to users that "precision isn't totally critical with your taps because we have that intelligence built-in."

Dye said that despite the extra screen space, Apple still views the Apple Watch as a device intended to be used briefly, just like the original 2015 model:

I think a lot of those core foundational values around how we manage to watch the news remain the same. Despite the fact that we are able to allow for more content on the display, we still see it as a glanceable, smaller, shorter-interaction type of a product versus something like a phone or certainly an iPad.

Ng added that he sees the larger screen of the Apple Watch Series 7 mainly as a tool to "consume that information faster and easier."

It isn't about the 30 minutes you're spending looking at your phone and social media, or the hour on your Mac working on a document. The power of Apple Watch is in those hundreds of glances a day that might give you information that you need right at that moment.

Dye suggested that Apple still sees watchOS as distinct from iOS and iPadOS, with the fundamental concept of the Apple Watch working well. Looking to the future, he said that "we're always thinking about the future, we're always looking at and challenging the language we have."

The initial design we spent a great deal of time on. I think we got a lot of things right, especially as a wearable device that was really built for comfort on the wrist. We're pretty pleased with where it's at from the design perspective.

CNET asked Dye and Ng why Apple has chosen not to create a watch face store on the Apple Watch, despite partnerships with companies like Nike and Hermés. Dye suggested that Apple has no immediate plans for a watch face store:

As critical as the hardware is at playing the role distinguishing Apple Watch as Apple Watch, we think the watch faces play a pretty big role there as well, which is why we've been so careful over the years, despite the fact that there's wide variety, to have a lot of consistent design elements. If you look closely, the watch hands are always drawn exactly the same way, despite the fact that they show up in different colors. We think we struck a really good balance. The watch faces themselves, they provide a canvas for third parties for sure, and a template that they can [use to] create multiple complications and turn a watch face into their watch face, and that becomes the interface in some ways for their application.

See the full interview for more information about the design decisions around the Apple Watch Series 7's larger display.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

'New' iPhone SE Product Listing Appears on French Website

Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real. The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
apple launch feb 2025

Tim Cook Teases an 'Apple Launch' Next Wednesday

Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag. The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle. Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
M4 Mac mini Apple Video

Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem

Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum. In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs. The issue is...
M4 mini Glowing Blue

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished M4 Macs

Wednesday February 12, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today added MacBook Pro and Mac mini models with M4 series chips to its certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland for the first time since the computers were introduced in October 2024. Some refurbished MacBook Pro models with M4 chips are also available in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and select other European countries. ...
iPhone 16 Apple Store

iPhone 17 in New Sizes This Year: What to Know

Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know. Standard iPhone 17 Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
Apple Ad on X

Apple Resumes Advertising on X

Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:18 pm PST by
Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk. For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...

Top Rated Comments

nwcs Avatar
43 months ago
Apple dodged the real reason we want third party watch faces... We want design elements Apple does not provide or allow currently.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Arsenikdote Avatar
43 months ago

Apple dodged the real reason we want third party watch faces... We want design elements Apple does not provide or allow currently.
Did they dodge it? Seemed like they said very directly that they want to control what the watch face looks like to make sure it is distinctly an Apple Watch. They don't see that changing anytime soon. Whether the specific examples they gave are exhaustive or not could be debated I guess.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
43 months ago
Imagine if they released a tool where you could design your own watch faces. Would be pretty amazing!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DMG35 Avatar
43 months ago
I'm a big fan of the larger display. I didn't really appreciate the pictures of it but when I actually put it on I love even that tiny bit of more space. It makes everythign on the watch better imo.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
43 months ago

Did they dodge it? Seemed like they said very directly that they want to control what the watch face looks like to make sure it is distinctly an Apple Watch. They don't see that changing anytime soon. Whether the specific examples they gave are exhaustive or not could be debated I guess.
To me it's a dodge. They explained they wanted the control but didn't explain why they wouldn't allow other designers to provide different options.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
43 months ago
Ahhh, Apple is over here justifying themselves.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)