Apple Watch Price, Release Date, Battery Life Finally Revealed: Is It 'the Future' or Will It Flop? [Poll]
At its big "Spring Forward" event on Monday, Apple finally disclosed some key facts about the Apple Watch that the company wasn't ready to discuss when CEO Tim Cook took the stage last September to unveil the smartwatch.
So without further adieu -- Everything You Wanted to Know about the Watch (but that Apple was afraid to tell you last year):
Price: Between $350 and ~ A Year of College Tuition
The Apple Watch Sport edition, in silver or Space Gray, costs $350 for the 38mm Watch and $50 more for the 42mm size. It comes with a plastic wristband, available in several colors.
The Apple Watch (stainless steel) costs $550 for the basic 38mm edition, and $50 more for the 42mm size. But depending on which of the 20 different wristbands you get with it, prices could end up as high as $1050 to $1100.
The 18-karat Apple Watch "Edition" edition costs more than you can afford.
Unless, perhaps, you made a sizable investment in Apple 30 years ago, so here it is: Available in "custom rose or yellow" solid gold, the Apple Watch "Edition" starts at $10,000, comes with a custom designed wristband in 8 models, and will only be available in limited quantity and locations. No maximum price was given for this edition.
Excluding the latter Edition, Apple Watch's $350 to $600 price range puts the device in a familiar position for an Apple product, compared to the rest of the market.
It's expensive, and possibly very expensive, but still within a reasonable range (at its most basic configuration) compared to competitors. But don't forget: in order to use a Watch, you'll also need an iPhone 5 or newer (excluding the iPhone 5c), which likely means the first wave of Watch users will all be iPhone diehards.
Though ironically, you can now pick up an iPhone 5 for less than the cheapest Apple Watch.
Battery Life: "All Day" (or About 18 Hours)
Expected battery life for the Watch was the most conspicuously absent spec during September's unveiling event. It turns out it will last 18 hours with normal (i.e., rather intermittent) use.
Apple calls this an "all day" battery life. How optimistic or realistic that phrase turns out to be will only become common knowledge after consumers can put it through normal use, which can only happen after the Watch becomes widely available.
In-Store Preview and Release Date
That's happening April 24 (in the U.S. and most major markets), according to Apple. You'll be able to fiddle with a Watch two weeks before that in Apple Stores, as the preview period begins April 10, but you won't be able to take it home yet.
Is This Revolutionary?
You can find more details on the Watch -- the "digital crown," fitness sensors, mag-safe charger, Siri, and more -- in Latin Post's original Apple Watch feature from the unveiling in September.
But needless to say, most people interested in the Watch have a good idea of what it is, what it looks like, and what it is capable of (and not).
Which is one of the reasons Monday's Spring Forward event seemed boring. It wasn't the first time we'd seen it, much less the first time we've talked about it, and most everything in the presentation was a repeat from September or filler. Particularly Jony Ive's punctilious design videos -- where the English Apple Design guru illustrates how the "al-yu-min-ium" alloy is forged with the utmost care -- are now almost at the point of self-parody. But that's coming from the perspective of someone whose job is to watch every Apple event.
What do you think? Are you excited about the Apple Watch? Will you buy one?
Tell us in the poll below!
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