Apple has a reputation for secrecy but the upcoming release of the Apple Watch has made the company unusually open. Apple invited a few hand-picked journalists to check out the design process behind the Apple Watch and explore the lab where it was tested, which included a gym where the health and fitness features of the smartwatch were put to the test. Naturally, only the company’s own employees were allowed to test the top-secret project.
Apple doesn’t usually reveal its secrets. Like Las Vegas, what happens in Cupertino stays in Cupertino. However, in light of the recent Apple Watch launch, the company seems to be going out of its way to show off hand-picked journalists where and how the Watch was designed and tested. The most recent invitee was Good Morning America from ABC, and Apple showed off the gym where it tested the health and fitness powers of the Watch. Apple only tested the top-secret device on internal employees, but even so, the company hid the Watch from view and did not tell the testers why they were doing all that exercise. Employees ran, did yoga, rowed, and performed a number of other workout activities, while wearing a masked Apple Watch, masks, and other high-tech equipment. “[The employees] knew they were testing something, but they didn’t know it was for the Apple Watch,” Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of operations told the reporter. “We hooked them up with all the masks and so forth, but we would put on an Apple Watch covered up.”
