Apple Employees Who Completed This Year's 'Close Your Rings' Challenge Receive Shirt and Congratulatory Card

Apple each year hosts a company wide fitness challenge for its employees at corporate offices and retail stores around the world, tasking participants to close all three of their Apple Watch Activity Rings every day of the month.

appleemployeeactivityshirt
The challenge is normally held in February as part of Heart Month, but this year's challenge was delayed due to the ongoing public health crisis that had people staying in their homes for the early months of the year.

Apple reinstated the activity challenge on Monday, July 20, and it ran through Sunday, August 16. Employees who participated and successfully closed their rings each day are now receiving their award, which is an Apple-designed t-shirt that says "2020" in a logo with Apple Watch Activity-style rings.

The t-shirt is accompanied by a congratulatory card, but Apple appears to have skipped the pins that have been provided with past challenges. Apple has held these challenges each year. In 2018 and 2019, employees received an exclusive Apple Watch band with Activity ring colors.

Apple's annual February fitness challenges are internal only and limited to Apple employees, but Apple also regularly holds public fitness challenges, though these come with digital achievement awards rather than physical rewards.

The next Apple Watch Activity Challenge, which celebrates national parks, is set to take place on August 30. Apple Watch owners can complete the challenge by recording a walk, hike, roll, or run of a mile.

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...

Top Rated Comments

jonnysods Avatar
71 months ago
I like that even though there is so much negativity in 2020, Apple are still having fun and engaging their staff.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Macintosh 128K Avatar
71 months ago

Looks very cheap. Would be better giving them a nice discount at Apple Store.
They already get a very nice discount at the Apple Store.

Wow, nothing but complaints from people here. Did your own workplace give you gold Porsche for working out a little bit? What kinda amazing rewards have you been compensated with for doing some very basic things for a month?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kuwxman Avatar
71 months ago
Richest company in the world has to watch those costs. No pins for you!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unity451 Avatar
71 months ago
"I closed all my rings in 2020 and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
71 months ago
I wouldn’t mind having the shirt. Nice move by Apple to encourage more employees to exercise.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BreepBreep Avatar
71 months ago

I did and I spoke to that.
Doesn’t mean that employees didn’t complain.

I wasn’t one of them but then again I got a MacBook Pro tricked out at 25% off and then an additional $500 off of that. Watch for 50% off. $100 free towards commute expenses each month.

the list goes on but I also know tech companies that have personal chef on site.

Going to Apple campus is same except the price is heavily subsidized vs free.
“No one is complaining” wasn’t meant to be taken literally. Every company has complaints, and Apple isn’t perfect. Point is that employees are generally very happy and value their jobs. Some seem to miss things like thousands of employees sitting at home collecting paychecks for months. And they have no idea what other benefits they’ve gotten during COVID because they’re not supposed to know. This is why Apple keeps stuff like this a secret. If they gave everyone free MacBooks, the narrative would be that employees are spoiled at the cost of customers. They know it’s a lose-lose for them either way. Best to just treat employees as best as they can and not brag about it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)