What you need to know
- Apple just released a brand new Apple Watch.
- It's a limited-edition Apple Watch Series 6 Black Unity with Black Unity Sport Band.
- Apple also has new Podcasts and Book curations to celebrate Black History Month.
Apple has just unveiled a brand new Apple Watch Series 6 to celebrate Black History Month.
In a press release Apple stated:
Apple is introducing the Black Unity Collection, designed to celebrate and acknowledge Black history and Black culture. The collection includes a limited-edition Apple Watch Series 6, the Black Unity Sport Band, and a Unity watch face. As part of this effort, Apple is supporting six global organizations to help advance their missions in promoting and achieving equality and civil rights in the US and around the world: Black Lives Matter Support Fund via the Tides Foundation; European Network Against Racism; International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights; Leadership Conference Education Fund; NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.; and Souls Grown Deep. The Black Unity Collection pays homage to the rich tradition and craft of quilting in the Black community and celebrates the colors of the Pan-African flag: red for the blood that unites people of the African Diaspora and was shed for their liberation, black for the people whose existence is affirmed by the flag, and green for the vibrant natural wealth of Africa, the Motherland. The Black Unity Sport Band is made from individual pieces of colored fluoroelastomer, which are assembled by hand and compression-molded into one. The Unity watch face creates an ever-changing pattern that dynamically shifts as Apple Watch moves.
The new Watch will be available starting on February 1, and the accompanying Apple Watch faces will come in Apple watchOS 7.3 later today. The Black Unity edition Apple Watch Series 6 starts at $399, or $499 for the cellular version, and will be available online and in-store from Apple and Target in the US, and over 38 other countries and regions. You'll have to move fast though, as the limited-edition Watch will only be available in February. The new Apple Watch Unity band will be available separately for $49, the usual cost of a band.
The new Watch is part of Apple's curated coverage of Black History Month, from the release:
To celebrate Black History Month, Apple is bringing customers a variety of new and updated collections and exclusive content that highlight and amplify Black creators, artists, developers, and businesses. From curated features across the App Store, Apple Music, the Apple TV app, Apple Books, and Apple Podcasts, to new Apple Maps Guides, the Apple Watch Black Unity Collection, Today at Apple sessions, and more, here is a look at what is in store across Apple's products and services this February.
Apple will spotlight apps through February with a new App Store Black History Month Hub, spotlighting Black-owned businesses, developers, and more. Apple Music will honor Black artists, moments, and movements. There will be new Apple Maps Guides created with EatOkra, a Black-owned business directory app based in Brooklyn.
Apple is also rolling out Apple Fitness+ themed workouts, and author Ibram X. Kendi will star in Apple's new 'Time to Walk' feature in February.
Today at Apple is also offering hands-on virtual sessions in partnership with It's Nice That hosted by Black creators focused on using creativity to bring about change.
The Apple TV app will spotlight "the multidimensionality of the Black family and its representation onscreen" as part of its 'Essential Stories' this month, and Apple News readers will be able to explore curated news and the best journalism on race in America. Furthermore:
Separately, a special Apple News+ Spotlight collection will feature audio articles that celebrate the Black experience. Readers can dive even deeper by visiting the Racial Justice Spotlight, an ongoing collection of articles that includes education on anti-racism, mental-health resources, and ideas to serve their community.
Apple Books will highlight new books and audiobooks from Black authors across a variety of genres, and Apple Podcasts is getting an expansive set of shows featuring Michelle Obama, Joe Budden, Phoebe Robinson, and Baratunde Thurston.
Finally, a new Shot on iPhone campaign called 'hometown' will highlight the work of more than 30 Black photographers commissioned by Apple.
Earlier this month Apple announced further efforts through a new Racial Equity and Justice initiative.
