Apple's employees who participated in the company's annual Close Your Rings Challenge have begun to receive a limited-edition Apple Watch band and a special enamel pin marking the 10th anniversary of the internal challenge.
This year's band is a black Sport Loop with special lugs and an end piece that are colored similarly to the Apple Watch's Move, Exercise, and Stand rings.
Given that these bands are limited to Apple's employees, rather than being sold directly to customers, they are relatively rare. You can keep track of hundreds of Apple Watch bands released since 2015 through the Bandbreite app on the iPhone.
Wednesday September 9, 2026 9:10 am PDT by Jordan Golson
Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event kicks off today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, where we're expecting to see the foldable iPhone Duo, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 models, new AirPods 5 earphones, and perhaps some other announcements.
Apple is providing a live video stream on its website, on YouTube, and in the company's TV app across various platforms. We...
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today further outlined what to expect from the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 set to be unveiled on September 9.
While it was initially rumored that Touch ID may be coming to the Apple Watch this year, Gurman reiterated that he does not expect the Series 12 or Ultra 4 to have any major design changes compared to the current Series 11 and Ultra 3 models.
...
Tuesday September 8, 2026 10:24 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's biggest event of the year is almost here, and all eyes are on Cupertino. With the first foldable iPhone expected to headline Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, the rumor mill has been running full throttle, fuelled by the biggest single design change in the life of the iPhone.
To get you up to speed, here's a quick reference...
I cringe at the thought of my employer monitoring how I exercise or manage my weight. Are there fat people working for Apple? It is it a hinderance to be pudgy in your career there? This is what I get from this.
It’s an opt in ‘challenge’. The only thing work will know is if you received a prize or not. It’s super open and pretty much everyone gets a participation prize.
There’s plenty of fat people at my store. I’d say around a 3rd of the staff are fat.
There’s been challenges in the past which focused on weight loss, but the feedback was it wasn’t inclusive. So no we have the Close Your Rings challenge and the Mindful Minute challenge.
So yeah. If you wouldn’t want to participate, then you wouldn’t have to.
I cringe at the thought of my employer monitoring how I exercise or manage my weight. Are there fat people working for Apple? It is it a hinderance to be pudgy in your career there? This is what I get from this.
It’s optional to participate and just seems like a fun event to encourage people to exercise. If you work for Apple and don’t like it, you can just not participate.
Health and exercise affect things like work performance, sick days, annd overall quality of life, so I don’t think it’s weird for an employer to care about their employees’ health. I don’t really see the issue, especially when voluntary.
