While the new MacBook may have been the freshest news out of Apple's "Spring Forward" event today, the main focus was, as expected, on the Apple Watch. The company broke down more details on pricing and release.
After rehashing much of the info that was announced last September, the company answered many of the key questions that were remaining. First, Apple Watch pre-orders start on April 10, and the Watch ships (to the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and the UK) on April 24.
We've known for a while that pricing would start at US$350, but where it would go from there remained a mystery. Today we know. The 38 mm Apple Watch Sport (aluminum body, plastic band) is the entry-level model, starting at that $350 point, but the larger (42 mm) Sport jumps up to starting at $400.
The 38 mm stainless steel Apple Watch (no suffix) starts at $550, and jumps all the way up to $1,050 – depending which band you go with. The 42 mm equivalent adds $50 to those prices across the board.
... and as for that 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition? It starts at a whopping $10,000. It's clearly Apple's attempt to invade the luxury, high-end fashion sector.
Apple also detailed its battery life estimates for the Apple Watch, describing it as an "all-day" device. More specifically, Tim Cook estimated 18 hours of use for a "typical day." That does't look particularly good next to some of the recent smartwatches from Samsung, LG and Asus, so this will be something to keep an eye on when we get a review unit in house.
Starting on that April 10 pre-order date, Apple Stores will also have display units, letting customers try them on and sample the different variants and band styles.
The Apple Watch is the company's first new product category entry since 2010's iPad. Despite some promising smartwatches on the Android Wear and Samsung Gear sides of the aisle, the category has yet to truly infest the mainstream. Apple is clearly hoping to work the same magic here that it did with personal computers, MP3 players, multitouch smartphones and tablets. This will, of course, be the first attempt to do that without Steve Jobs.
For a more detailed breakdown on what the Apple Watch is and does, you can revisit Gizmag's coverage from back in September, and visit the source link below.
Source: Apple
