Apple Promotes Durability of Apple Watch Series 7 in New 'Hard Knocks' Ad

Apple today released a new ad for Apple Watch Series 7 highlighting the device's durability when exposed to various wearing conditions.


In the ad titled "Hard Knocks," a number of scenarios are played out involving people either intentionally or accidentally exposing their Apple Watch to various weather conditions, liquids, and physical impacts.

Some examples include someone diving into a pool from a height, someone running for a bus and getting their wrist caught in the door, and a person falling while ice skating.

"The most durable Apple Watch ever," reads the tagline of the ad, which runs for 1 minute and 38 seconds, and features music by Jack White, "Power of My Love."

According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on a version of the Apple Watch "with a rugged casing" that's aimed at athletes, hikers, and others who use the watch in more extreme conditions than day to day wear. It will feature the same functionality as a standard Apple Watch, but with improved impact resistance and protection. Apple is expected to launch the rugged Apple Watch in 2022.

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

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Top Rated Comments

JosephAW Avatar
36 months ago
Most smart watches would survive all those scenarios.
Only a few can survive more than two days if you accidentally forget to charge it. :rolleyes:
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleUser2 Avatar
36 months ago
Ok but they scratch pretty easy - so that’s the risk. Cracking less so but this advert seems to suggest you can be super care free, which you can’t.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macman01101 Avatar
36 months ago
They gotta be joking. I baby my watch and it has tons of visible micro-scratches
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mnsportsgeek Avatar
36 months ago
These ads are such BS because when you break your watch playing tennis or soccer we all know they aren’t covering that under warranty.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HacKage Avatar
36 months ago
My sapphire & titanium Garmin Fenix has been bashed off rocks, dropped, thrown, completely abused and apart from some light superficial scratches to the bezel (absolutely nothing on the face), it works exactly as it should.

No Apple watch can compete with that. The fact that they are proud to advertise a soft and bouncy tennis ball hitting the watch as a "hard knock" says it all.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
e-coli Avatar
36 months ago
They’re going after Garmin, apparently. I have an Apple Watch and a Garmin watch, and I use them for very different things. I use my Apple Watch for gym-related activities and hiking. But it’s horrendous for running and cycling, which is where the Garmin watch shines. Most of that has to do with the terrible way in which Apple’s GPS parsing algorithm works by applying path smoothing. It’s essentially useless for any distance-precision activity. And the lack of physical buttons is also a huge drawback.

I wish Apple would fix the algorithm in running and cycling activities, and allow the Digital Crown to be function-programmed.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)