Apple Watch: Design, features, price and availability

Design, features, price and availability: All you need to know about the Apple Watch

Finally, Apple’s highly anticipated Watch is here! There has been a lot of talk about what features it may adopt and what may be given a miss in the first iteration of the Apple ever since the Watch was announced last year in September. As the device is ready to hit store shelves in April, here’s all you need to know about the Watch.

Design and display

The Apple Watch features a squarish screen and will be coming in three distinct collections and two different sizes. The Watch is crafted from custom alloys of polished or space black stainless steel (Apple Watch), space gray or silver anodized aluminum (Apple Watch Sport) and 18-karat rose or yellow gold (Apple Watch Edition). The two different screen sizes are 38 mm and 42 mm. The 38 mm: 21.2 x 26.5 mm, 33.5 mm (1.32 in) diagonally, 272 x 340 pixels; while 42 mm: 24.3 x 30.5 mm, 39 mm (1.5 in) diagonally, 312 x 390 pixels.

With two sizes and three different editions, Apple has also introduced six different straps. These are a sports band; the Milanese Loop as Apple has named which has a flexible magnetic stainless steel mesh; there’s the Leather Loop which has a magnet for quick fastening; the leather Modern Buckle, which closes with a solid metal clasp; the leather Classic Buckle; and the stainless steel Link Bracelet.

The Sports band will come in black, blue, green, pink and white. The Classic Buckle comes in black and midnight blue. The leather Loop comes in bright blue, light brown and stone. The Modern Buckle in midnight blue, brown, soft pink, rose gray and bright red. The Milanese Loop is stainless steel and the Link Bracelet in brushed stainless steel and polished space black.

Apple Watch Sport sports a lightweight anodized aluminum case in silver and space gray with a Retina display protected by strengthened Ion-X glass along with fluoroelastomer Sport Band in five colors. The Apple Watch collection comes with polished stainless steel and space black stainless steel cases with a Retina display protected by sapphire crystal. The Apple Watch collection will be available in three different leather straps, a stainless steel link bracelet and Milanese loop, and a black or white Sport Band. Apple Watch Edition crafted from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys are said to be twice as hard as standard gold, a Retina display protected by polished sapphire crystal and offers a choice of straps and bands with 18-karat gold clasps, buckles or pins.

Software and features

Apple Watch serves as a timepiece and can be personalised with watch faces ranging from traditional analog such as the Chronograph face, Modular face, animated butterflies and jellyfish on the Motion face. It goes beyond telling time with specialised functions on the watch face such as the sunrise/sunset, upcoming calendar events or daily activity level. Users can simply swipe up from the watch face for ‘Glances’ that quickly show you information you care about. It could be anything from weather forecast and current location to the music you’re listening to.

Apart from a timepiece, the Apple Watch serves as a communication device to send messages, read email and answer calls to your iPhone directly from the wrist. It comes with Taptic Engine that sends notification alerts. Users can also send a sketch, a tap or even the rhythm of your heartbeat. Using the Apple Watch, one can pay for coffee using Apple Pay, board a plane with a Passbook boarding pass, or just raise your wrist to ask Siri for turn-by-turn directions in Maps.

The UI can be controlled using the ‘Digital Crown’. This wheel allows users to scroll and browse through the user interface. There’s Bluetooth 4.0 support, Wi-Fi and Magsafe wireless charging. A custom-designed S1 chip has been used inside the Apple Watch.

For health and fitness, it comes with the Activity app that gives simple visual snapshot of your daily activity with three rings that measure active calories burned, brisk activity and how often you stand or take a break. Using the Workout app, it also provides detailed metrics required during workout sessions for activities like walking, running and cycling. It supports accelerometer, built-in heart rate sensor, GPS and Wi-Fi from the iPhone. The Activity app on iPhone collects your activity and workout data from Apple Watch and uses this history to suggest personalized activity goals.

The Watch lets users request an Uber, check American Airlines flight, remotely control the Honeywell Lyric thermostat and more. It also supports popular apps such as Instagram, Nike+ Running, OpenTable, Shazam, Twitter, WeChat and more. Apple Watch promises to deliver up to 18 hours of battery life. It combines Apple’s MagSafe technology with inductive charging for a quick connection.

Compatibility

Apple Watch works with iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 8.2 or later. iOS 8.2 is available for download.

Pricing

Apple Watch will be available in three collections – The Apple Watch Sport priced at $349 (approx Rs 21,908) and $399 (approx Rs 25,000), Apple Watch priced between $549 (approx Rs 34,400) and $1,099 (approx Rs 68,800) and the Apple Watch Edition built from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys starting at $10,000 (approx Rs 6,27,500).

Availability

Starting April 10, the Apple Watch will be available for preview, try-on by appointment at Apple’s retail stores and also available for pre-order through the Apple’s online store in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US. On April 24, it 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.