Apple Watch Series 2 Can Be Used While Swimming or Surfing

Aside from iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple unveiled a new version of its smartwatch, which it described as the “ultimate fitness device”.

The company said the Apple Watch Series 2 is water resistant to164ft, meaning it can be used while swimming or surfing.

It also introduces:

• a built-in GPS location tracker, letting running routes be tracked without carrying a paired phone
• a more powerful processor, letting it show more detailed graphics in apps than its predecessor
• a brighter screen

According to IDC, the original Apple Watch is the best selling smartwatch on the market, but shipments of the device dropped more than 50% between the April-to-June quarter of 2016 and the same period the previous year.

Apple said it thought the device would have particular appeal to runners, and may be able to stoke interest through a partnership with Nike.

Nike has created an app that lets its owner share details of their runs with others, and has also launched its own bands for the timepiece.

Although many of the details of the new devices had leaked in advance, there was one major surprise at the start of the event.

Video game character Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, appeared to announce that Nintendo’s plumber would appear in his first iPhone video game before the end of the year.

Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that the running-themed adventure would be an iOS exclusive at launch.

It follows the success of another Nintendo franchise, Pokemon, on the platform.

It was also revealed that the Apple Watch would soon gain the ability to tell owners how close they are to nearby monsters in Pokemon Go, and to show which characters have hatched from eggs in the augmented reality title.