After months of speculation, Apple has formally unveiled its long-expected entry into the smartwatch market with the Apple Watch.
The Watch breaks several traditions within Apple by offering more choices for customization and pricing as well as two versions based on watch face size for smaller and larger wrists.The Apple Watch can run its own dedicated apps and be used to manage notifications from iPhones, make calls, send and receive emails, messages, control music playback, and also manage fitness tracking through HealthKit.
The Apple Watch Sport edition starts at $349 for the 38mm size and $399 for the 42mm size. The Apple Watch line with a stainless steel face and various alloy bands will range between $549 and $1,049 for the 38mm size and $599 to $1,099 for the 42mm size.
The Apple Watch Edition, which is made from solid gold starts at $10,000 with a limited retail presence in select markets. Preorders for Apple Watch begin April 10 in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US.Apple Watch will also be available for preview, try-on by appointment at Apple’s retail stores, and available for pre-order through the Apple Online Store the same day.
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.
Apple also announced the availability of the latest iOS update in 8.2, available later today which will ship with the companion Apple Watch app. The app will only be available to iPhone 5 and later devices, while Apple has yet to publish a changelog for the update.
