Apple's , called the rather than the expected iWatch, is available to buy now. Here, we bring you an Apple Watch preview based on all of the information we know so far and our hands-on experience with the hot new device.
Apple Watch design: What does the Apple Watch look like?
Apple has always paid particular attention to the design of its products, and has built a reputation as a fashionable and stylish brand. When it comes to smartwatches, design more important than ever. It's wearable technology, after all.
As can be expected, the Apple Watch is a pleasure to look at, and with 38 different styles to choose from there's bound to be something that suits you. There are three different Apple Watch models. The first is the Apple Watch Sport, which comes in at the bottom of the wide price range starting at £299. Next is the Apple Watch, which is the middle-of-the-range smartwatch starting at £479. Finally, the Apple Watch Edition is for those with cash to splash, starting at a hefty £8,000.
As the name suggests, the Apple Watch Sport is designed with exercise in mind, made with strengthened Ion-X glass for maximum durability and anodised aluminium to reduce the weight. It's available in Space Grey or Silver. You'll get the choice of a White Sport Band, Blue Sport Band, Green Sport Band, Pink Sport Band or Black Sport Band. It's worth noting that we're concerned about the Sport Bands of the Apple Watch – we think they'll get grubby quickly as they're made with a rubbery plastic.
The Apple Watch has a Sapphire glass display rather than the Ion-X used in the Sport, and a Stainless Steel case rather than aluminium, and comes in silver or Space Black. Strap options for the Apple Watch include the White Sport Band, Black Sport Band, Black Classic Buckle, Milanese Loop, Black Leather Loop, Bright, Stone Leather Loop, Light Brown Leather Loop, Blue Leather Loop, Black Modern Buckle, Midnight Blue Modern Buckle, Soft Pink Modern Buckle, Brown Modern Buck, and Stainless Steel Link Bracelet and Space Black Link Bracelet.
And if you're wondering why the Apple Watch Edition is so expensive, that'll be because of its 18-carat gold case available in yellow or rose gold. You'll even get a fancy leather box that doubles as a charging cradle. Bands for the Watch Edition include the White Sport Band, Black Sport Band, Black Classic Buckle, Midnight Blue Classic Buckle, Rose Grey Modern Buckle, Bright Red Modern Buckle.
Phew. That's a lot of options. And even more confusing is that some straps can't be purchased with certain sizes of Apple Watch. For example, the Modern Buckle isn't available for the larger model, and the Leather Loop isn't available for the smaller model.
You can swap straps at a later date, though. Apple sells the Watch straps separately in the Apple Store and third-party accessory makers will be selling their own too.
All three models come in two different size options. The first is designed for more dainty wrists, at 38mm high. The larger option has a 42mm high screen. You'll notice quite a significant difference between these two sizes, so we'd strongly recommend popping into an Apple Store before you buy to try on both sizes and see which suits you best. Even the smaller model looks quite large on smaller wrists.
The Apple Watch is water resistant to the IPX7 standard, which technically means that the device shouldn't be damaged if it sat in up to one metre of water for up to 30 minutes, but Apple doesn't recommend trying it. Instead, Apple describes the Watch as "splash- and water-resistant but not waterproof" and suggests that you could wear it in the shower but don't take it swimming. We'll have to wait and see how well the Apple Watch holds out against water over time.
We think that the Apple Watch is a stunning device, but we are slightly disappointed that it isn't round. We love round smartwatches from the likes of , and most recently , because they blend in as an ordinary watch better. The Apple Watch is quite obviously a piece of tech stuck on your wrist, and that won't appeal to everyone (yet, but this is Apple we're talking about so we'll probably all be wearing them in a couple of years and won't think anything of it).
We do like the fact that there are so many different options, even if it does get a bit confusing. Knowing that there are 38 different options makes the choice you make even more personal.
Apple Watch specs
The Apple Watch's display has a resolution of 272x340 or 312x390 depending on whether you choose the 38mm or 42mm size option. We thought the screen quality was excellent during our testing.
The Apple Watch is powered by an Apple S1 processor, but no one has been able to test it yet to determine its speed or find out what standard it is based on.
As can be expected from wearable tech, there are several sensors in the Apple Watch that enable the fitness tracking features. There's a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a heart rate monitor. There's no GPS, though: the Apple Watch relies on the iPhone for that part. That means you'll need your iPhone with you if you plan on tracking a run, which is a bit of a shame.
Battery life has been a bit of a concern, but Apple claims it'll last for 18 hours of normal use, which it says is 'all-day battery life'. If you're tracking a workout, it'll last for around 6.5 hours, so should manage to track a marathon, for example. The good news is that a Power Reserve mode will allow you to see the time for an additional 72 hours if the Watch runs out of battery life.
Charging takes around two and a half hours, and works with an inductive magnetic charger that snaps onto the back of the Watch itself.
See also: Best Apple Watch charger stands and docking stations
There's no camera in the Apple Watch, but it can be used as a remote for the camera on your iPhone.
You'll need an iPhone 5 or newer in order to use the Apple Watch.
Apple Watch features: What can the Apple Watch do?
We've determined that the Apple Watch is a good-looking piece of kit, but what can it actually do?
Well first things first you're going to need an iPhone in order to use the Apple Watch, and you're going to need to download the dedicated Apple Watch app (if you've updated to the latest version of iOS 8 you'll find that you've already got it).
The Apple Watch runs Apple's own software, with some familiar elements in addition to many new ones. Interacting with the Apple Watch is an all-new experience, with new Force Touch technology that helps it determine when you're tapping and pressing, a physical button called the Digital Crown, a second button that takes you to the Friends screen and also voice control using Siri.
Siri can be used to search, set reminders, dictate messages, get directions and more. It's as easy as raising your wrist and saying "Hey, Siri" followed by your command.
There's also Taptic Feedback, which uses vibrations that'll tap you on the wrist for alerts, directions and more. You can even send others your heartbeat and they'll feel it tapping on their wrist (sickeningly romantic, isn't it?).
With all of those ways of interacting with the Apple Watch, it's certainly going to take a bit of getting used to. You'll need to spend some time getting to know your Apple Watch to figure out whether you need to tap, scroll, swipe, push or speak to get the job done. You'll find lots of Apple Watch tutorials in our sister site Macworld's .
While wearing the Apple Watch, you'll get notifications for emails from VIPs, text messages, social media alerts and more. Apple has designed the Apple Watch interface with little snippets of information that the company calls 'Glances'. They're mini versions of apps that aim to let you get the information you need within seconds – Apple says you shouldn't need to spend more than 10 – 15 seconds looking at your watch at a time.
Apple's Apple Watch apps include Messages, Mail, Weather, Maps, Calendar, Passbook, Music, Photos and more. Apple doesn't intend for you to use the Apple Watch for web browsing, though, so Safari is notably absent.
You can use the Apple Watch to answer and make phone calls thanks to the built-in microphone and speaker, and there's also the ability to reply to text messages using smart responses or dictation.
Apple has also come up with some new apps specifically created for the Apple Watch. The first is Activity, which features three rings that represent how many calories you've burned, how active you've been and how often you were standing. When the rings are full, you've met your target and you'll earn an achievement.
The Workout app takes things a bit further, tracking your workouts whether you're running, walking, cycling and more. It'll measure how far you travelled, how fast you moved and how long you were working out for. It'll keep all of this information in the companion app on your iPhone so you can track your progress.
Third party developers have been busy creating apps for the Apple Watch, incorporating Glances and the 10 – 15 second idea into the design. Apps range from hotel apps that let you use your Apple Watch as a key to apps that help you find your car in the car park. There are even games designed for the Apple Watch, though we don't image we'll spend much time using our Apple Watch for gaming. Facebook, Twitter, Shazam, CityMapper, TripAdvisor and more have confirmed that they're creating Glances for the Apple Watch.
See also: Best Apple Watch apps
We do have one concern about apps on the Apple Watch and that's actually navigating to them in the first place. The Apple Watch Home screen is made up of a series of clickable bubbles that represent each app, but that screen will soon become cluttered and full of small, difficult to accurately tap icons that might make finding the app you're after a bit difficult. We're looking forward to spending more time with the Apple Watch to see how this works in practice.
Apps are all downloaded by first installing them on your iPhone and syncing with your Apple Watch. Apps can be reorganised on your Apple Watch home screen using the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, too.
Additionally, the Apple Watch features an NFC chip that will allow you to use it with Apple Pay, Apple's secure mobile payment system. Unfortunately, though, Apple Pay still hasn't made its way to the UK so we might have to wait a while until we can use that functionality here.
Of course, the Apple Watch can also tell you the time. There are lots of different (software-based) watch faces to choose from, some of which you can see below. The dedicated Apple Watch app is used to change the watch face (among many other things), so you can change it whenever you fancy.
Apple Watch price: How much does the Apple Watch cost?
If you're interested in buying the Apple Watch, you'll need from £299 all the way up to £13,500 if you opt for the most expensive model. You can find out exactly how much each Apple Watch option costs in our .
See also: How to get the gold Apple Watch for £329.
Apple Watch availability: When can I buy the Apple Watch?
The Apple Watch was first unveiled in September 2014, but we had to wait until a 9 March 2015 event to find out its official release date. On 10 April, Apple started taking pre-orders for the Apple Watch, and those who placed an order quickly should get their Apple Watch on 24 April. Others who weren't so fast may have to wait up to six weeks for their Apple Watch to arrive.
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