Apple took a lot of the veils off the Apple Watch today at a typically elaborate event in San Francisco. Most of the Watch demos had been originally shown in September, but the demos were deeper and more apparently ready for shipment. The most important details: Pre-orders on April 10, with previews in stores. Shipment April 24. Battery life touted at 18 hours of typical … [Read more...]
Latest Word on the Apple Watch
There's a big Apple announcement coming Monday, apparently about the Apple Watch, and the rumor/leak mill is in full flower. Here's what we people claim to know: TechCrunch says the Watch will automatically check your heart rate periodically. You will get notifications on your Watch only when you're wearing it and the strap is locked. If it's lying on your desk, the watch … [Read more...]
How Apple Plans to Sell the Apple Watch
Someone inside Apple's retail division is leaking like a sieve to 9to5Mac. The site's been carrying a series of pieces about how Apple plans to sell its upcoming watch. Now, it's carrying an article that goes deep into the scripts that salespeople are being told to use to qualify customers. That's kind of a big deal, because guiding someone through a consultative sale is a … [Read more...]
WSJ: Apple to Make 5 Million Watches, But Not Sure Why
With Mobile World Congress and its attendant blizzard of news about all things mobile coming up in a couple of weeks, Apple is newsbombing the proceedings with leaks about the forthcoming Apple Watch. The Wall Street Journal has carried a couple of interesting pieces in the last day. One article puts the initial production run at 5 million units. The other, more interesting, … [Read more...]
Apple Watch Gets April Ship Date
In an analysts' conference call after his company's earnings announcement, Apple CEO Tim Cook dropped the news that the Apple Watch will ship in April, which he called "right on schedule." (It wouldn't do for a watch to be late, now would it?) The Watch, of course, was announced September 6 with more fanfare than a U2 tour. Rumor has had it at one point or another that the … [Read more...]
Report: Apple Watch Battery Life Is Not Terrific
The frequently accurate site 9to5Mac is reporting that the forthcoming Apple Watch will be powerful but its battery will be hard-pressed to last a day. Estimates like this are tough, because it's not at all obvious how people will actually use the watch. Apple, the report says, is wringing 2.5 hours out of the watch in heavy application use, and about 3 hours if the watch … [Read more...]
Apple Watch Reportedly Set for January Production
If you're going to start selling 5 million units of a new product in February or March, you'd better start building it in January, if not earlier. After months of rumors, Apple reportedly has worked out manufacturing bugs for the Apple Watch, which has been rumored to hit the streets in late February or so. Sourcing on this article is a little bit like a game of Telephone … [Read more...]
Developer Details Emerge For Apple Watch
Apple developers yesterday got copies of iOS8.2, and it included lots of crunchy good details about the Apple Watch. Some of the salient details: At launch, the watch will work essentially as an iOS notification device. You're going to need an iPhone. Later in 2015, the watch will be able to run its own native apps. Does that mean there's going to be a hardware rev in the … [Read more...]
More Speculation on Apple Watch Pricing: $500 for Stainless?
In the absence of any real news about the Apple Watch, speculation about timing and pricing continues at a low boil. Today, MacRumors is passing along a bit from a French rumors site that the stainless steel version of the Apple Watch will hit the market at $500, with the gold version coming in at between $4,000 and $5,000. The entry level price for the watch was announced … [Read more...]
Apple Watch Not Due ‘Til Spring: Report
9to5Mac has the transcript of Apple internal video that implies that the Apple Watch won't ship until "the spring" of 2015. The company's been saying publicly only that watch would be available in "early 2015." Retail SVP Angela Ahrendts, recruited from Burberry to run the stores, told staffers that the watch would come out after Chinese New Year, which in 2015 is on … [Read more...]