Apple celebrates Black History Month with a limited-edition Watch Series 6

Apple is celebrating Black History Month by amplifying Black creators, artists, developers and businesses across its various services and with an Apple Watch Black Unity Collection. A limited-edition Apple Watch Series 6 features the words "Black Unity" etched onto the back crystal.

The company says that members of the Black creative community worked with Apple to create a Watch Sport Band and Watch face in tribute to the fight for racial justice. The band has the phrase “Truth. Power. Solidarity.” etched onto the enclosure. Like the band, the Unity Watch face uses the colors of the Pan-African flag: red, green and black. Apple says the face was designed to honor the craft of quilting and that its pattern of shapes shifts as the Watch moves around.

Apple Watch users will also be able to take part in a Unity Activity Challenge. Close your Move ring seven days in a row during February and you'll claim a limited-edition award.

Through the Black Unity Collection, Apple says it is supporting six global organizations that support equality and civil rights: 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 and Souls Grown Deep.

Apple Watch Series 6 Black Unity (which starts at $399 for the GPS model and $499 for the cellular version) and the Black Unity Sport Band ($49) will be available from February 1st. You'll be able to start using the Unity watch face when watchOS 7.3 rolls out today. The update also enables the Time to Walk audio storytelling feature in Apple Fitness+, as well as the ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notifications in a few more countries.

Elsewhere, Apple will highlight Black voices throughout February. A Black History Month hub in the App Store will shine a spotlight on Black-owned businesses, developers, entertainment apps, gaming apps and social justice apps. It will also include stories from Black developers focusing on the importance of representation in games and apps.

Apple Music will place a focus on Black musicians throughout the month with curated playlists, original videos and essays from Black musicians, authors, directors and influencers. You'll be able to check out Apple Maps Guides that the company worked on with EatOkra, an app that works with chefs to build a directory of Black-owned restaurants.

In the Apple TV app, the Essential Stories theme will center around the "multidimensionality of the Black family and its representation onscreen." It will call attention to a selection of TV shows and films that delve into topics like parenthood and queer chosen families, while highlighting some of the most memorable TV families.

Apple News will offer curated topic groups that emphasize stories about the issue of race in America and audio articles that acknowledge the Black experience. Apple will also honor Black History Month through Podcasts, Fitness+ and the latest Shot on iPhone campaign, as well as Today at Apple virtual sessions and tutorials that showcase ways to use creativity to bring about change.