Apple unveiled its plans for the new iPhone 7 on Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco and also had other news to share — this time, in the fitness space.
Apple in collaboration with Nike introduced the Apple Watch Nike+, a revolutionary running tool which pairs the Nike Sports band with the Apple Watch Series 2.
The Apple Watch Nike+ features a built-in GPS to track various metrics, including pace, distance and route while it is water resistant up to 50 meters. It can be personalized with different apps such as Activity Rings, Heart Rate, Stopwatch and Weather.
Additionally, the Watch will include Siri commands and two exclusive watch faces in addition to being easily integrated with the new Nike+ Run Club app, which was recently updated in late August.
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“Apple Watch is the ultimate device for a healthy life and we wanted to push it further to create the best smartwatch in the world for runners and athletes,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, in a statement. “Apple Watch Nike+ takes performance tracking to a whole new level and we can’t wait to bring it to the world’s largest community of runners.”
Added Trevor Edwards, President of Nike Brand: “We know runners — and we know many are looking for a device that gives them an easy, fun way to start running. The market is full of complex, hard-to-read devices that focus on your data. This focuses on your life. It’s a powerful device with a simple solution — your perfect running partner.”
Some in the sports business world, like ESPN’s Darren Rovell, believe this might be a direct shot by Nike at one of its biggest rivals.
Nike has been waiting to take a shot at Under Armour’s huge investment in tech. This new Apple watch partnership they hope is the killer.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 7, 2016
The Apple Watch Nike+ will be available in 38mm ($$369) and 42mm ($399) from Apple.com, Nike.com, Apple Stores, certain Nike retail stores and other outlets. It will be available to order on Apple.com beginning Friday, Sept. 9.