The Apple Watch will be available on Friday, April 24, to customers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US.
It introduces “revolutionary” technologies such as the Digital Crown, a way to scroll, zoom and navigate fluidly without obstructing the display, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The Retina display with Force Touch on Apple Watch senses the difference between a tap and a press, providing a new way to quickly access relevant controls. The Taptic Engine “discreetly” delivers a gentle tap on your wrist whenever you receive a notification or message.
The Apple Watch keeps time to within 50 milliseconds of UTC, the universal time standard, according to Cook. It can be personalized with watch faces ranging from traditional analog such as the Chronograph face, to the Modular face, or animated butterflies and jellyfish on the Motion face.
The Apple Watch goes beyond telling time with specialized functions on the watch face—known in watchmaking as complications—such as the sunrise/sunset, upcoming calendar events or daily activity level. With multiple customizable watch faces and complications, it enables millions of possible configurations. Swipe up from the watch face for Glances that quickly show you information you care about, such as the weather forecast, your current location on a map or the music you’re listening to, says Cook.
The Apple Watch enables you to send messages, read email and answer calls to your iPhone right from your wrist. The Taptic Engine alerts you with a tap so you won’t miss important notifications. With Digital Touch, Apple Watch allows you to communicate in new ways by sending a sketch, a tap or even the rhythm of your own heartbeat. It also supports Apple Pay and Siri.
The Activity app provides a visual snapshot of your daily activity with three rings that measure active calories burned, brisk activity and how often you’ve stood up to take a break from sitting during the day. The Apple Watch is designed to provide detailed metrics you need during dedicated workout sessions for activities such as walking, running and cycling through the Workout app.
With an accelerometer, a built-in heart rate sensor, GPS and Wi-Fi from your iPhone, the Apple Watch uses the best sensors for different types of motion and provides a comprehensive picture of your all-day activity and workouts. The Activity app on iPhone collects your activity and workout data from Apple Watch so you can see your history in greater detail. Apple’s smartwatch uses this history to suggest personalized activity goals, reward fitness milestones and keep you motivated.
The Apple Watch is available in two different sizes, 38 mm and 42 mm, and in three distinct collections—Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition. The Apple Watch Sport features a lightweight anodized aluminum case in silver and space gray with a Retina display protected by strengthened Ion-X glass and matching high-performance fluoroelastomer Sport Band in five colors.
The Apple Watch collection features polished stainless steel and space black stainless steel cases with a Retina display protected by sapphire crystal. The Apple Watch collection comes with a choice of three different leather straps, a stainless steel link bracelet and Milanese loop, and a black or white Sport Band.
Apple Watch Edition features cases specially crafted from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys developed to be twice as hard as standard gold, a Retina display protected by polished sapphire crystal and a choice of straps and bands with 18-karat gold clasps, buckles or pins.
The Apple Watch purportedly delivers up to 18-hours of battery life and comes with a unique charging solution that combines Apple’s MagSafe technology with inductive charging for a connection that simply snaps into place.
When the Apple Watch becomes available for pre-order from the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) on Friday, April 10, Apple retail stores and department store shop-in-shops will begin offering customers the chance to preview their choice of Apple Watch and try it on in-store.
Beginning April 10 in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US, Apple Watch will be available for preview, try-on by appointment at Apple’s retail stores, and available for pre-order through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com). On April 24, Apple Watch will be available online or by reservation in Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers in China and Japan. Customers who purchase online or in-store from Apple will be offered Personal Setup to customize and pair Apple Watch with their iPhone.
The Apple Watch is available in three collections, Apple Watch Sport, priced at US$349 and $399; Apple Watch, available from $549 to $1,099; and Apple Watch Edition, crafted from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys, with prices starting at $10,000.
The Apple Watch will also be available to preview or try on at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Isetan in Tokyo and Selfridges in London on April 10. Apple Watch will be for sale on April 24 at these select department store shop-in-shops, and at boutiques in major cities across the world including colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London and Tokyo, Maxfield in Los Angeles and The Corner in Berlin.
Starting today customers can explore and choose a Apple Watch in the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) or through the Apple Store app for iPhone and iPad. The Apple Watch requires an iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 8.2. or later. iOS 8.2 will be available for download today.