Apple’s March 9 “Spring Forward” event is just around the corner, and its tagline can only mean one thing: Apple Watch news galore.
Scheduled for the day after daylight saving time kicks in, we expect Apple to shower us with details about the upcoming wearable, including pricing and availability. Select Apple Watch apps from App Store developers will likely be shown off as well to whet our appetites for what’s to come.
While there’s a chance some new Mac hardware could share the stage Monday, we expect the event to focus mostly on all the unanswered questions surrounding the Apple Watch.
What are those questions? Glad you asked:
1) What’s the exact battery life?
Tim Cook charges his Watch nightly, and Apple has made it pretty clear that the Watch will need to be recharged every day. But is that after light or heavy use?
Battery will likely be the biggest inhibitor of the Apple Watch, just like the original iPhone.
2) How much will each model cost?
Photo: Apple
We already know the base Sport model will cost $350, but what about the nicer stainless steel Watch and the 18-karat gold Edition model?
It’s safe to bet that the mid-tier Apple Watch will run between $500 and $1,000, but the Edition is speculated to cost between $5,000 and $10,000.
3) When will it be available to buy?
Cook has already confirmed that the Watch is shipping sometime in April, but exact rollout dates remain unknown.
Given the aggressive international marketing push the Watch is seeing in areas like China, expect it to launch in multiple countries alongside the United States.
4) How will the bands work?
Apple says the Watch’s bands are meant to be interchangeable, but will all bands be compatible with all three Watch models? Will you be able to put a fancy Milanese Loop band on the entry-level Sport model?
And how much will each band cost? Expect to drop a solid chunk of change if you want to have several bands to mix and match.
5) What kind of apps will it run?
Several third-party apps from the likes of Facebook and Twitter were previewed alongside Apple’s own at the Watch’s original unveiling back in September. But it’s been months since developers were given the tools to start making their own Watch apps, and Apple will likely take the opportunity to show off some of the best ones.
We already know what Watch apps won’t be able to do, but there’s still plenty of room for Apple to showcase the hottest apps that will be ready for our wrists on day one. Select App Store developers have been invited to Apple headquarters to finish their apps in time, so expect a gold rush of new software when the Watch ships.
New MacBook? Maybe
While there have been whispers of a completely redesigned 12-inch MacBook Air launching at the event, we’re not holding our collective breath.
The Wall Street Journal has said that the 12-inch MacBook is scheduled to ship sometime in spring, but Apple could save the announcement for WWDC in June.
But now that specs for an upgraded 13-inch MacBook Air have surfaced, it seems like Mac news isn’t totally off the table for Monday.
iPad Pro? More like iPad No
Photo: CURVED
Holding out hope for a 12-inch iPad that’s perfectly suited for actually getting work done? You’re going to be waiting until fall.
Revamped Beats Music not until WWDC
Multiple reports have said that Apple won’t unveil its new streaming music service based on Beats Music until WWDC.
Stay tuned
We’ll be liveblogging all the breaking news from Apple’s event come Monday. The keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific, and Apple will be providing a live stream on its website.
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
15 responses to “What to expect from Apple’s ‘Spring Forward’ Watch event”
From everything one can see on the Apple site all bands should work with all models. There is no difference in the watch piece itself besides the material it is made from. I would like to see…ONE MORE THING…the improved APPLE TV.
“Whet” our appetites, not “wet”. These are 2 completely different words.
You must be new here. The editing for articles on this site (assuming for the moment it exists at all) is pretty bad. Lower your expectations. I offered to edit for them a number of times, got crickets. Ah well.
Nope, I’ve been commenting on CoM articles for many years. I simply detest the sloppy and horrendous bastardization of English by authors who should know better. It’s a sad state when authors don’t take the time to actually learn the language they’re using, especially on homonyms such as “wet” and “whet”. For those who don’t regularly use a dictionary: “whet” means to sharpen or excite, so “whet your appetite” figuratively means to get you excited about something. To “wet” your appetite is an interesting construction that gives the connotation of watering down your expectations, which is the exact opposite of what the author intended.
The dictionary is your friend. Apple even includes the excellent Oxford American Dictionary with every copy of Mac OS X. I use it for 2 reasons: 1. I like to understand what I’m reading, and 2. I want to ensure I use words correctly so I can be understood properly. Some people become embarrassed and sensitive when improper usage is pointed out, but I’m hoping that my note may be helpful to at least one or two people.
Part of my job entails editing, so these things tend to stick out for me as well. It’s possible I’ve grown too cynical about it though; I rarely point errors out anymore. I got tired of being taken to task because I was a ‘grammar nazi’, and told to lighten up. Words are not as important as I think they are, it seems.
Thanks, fixed!
3/9/15 is not the first day of DST. It is done at 2am 3/8/15.
You’re right. Thanks, fixed!
I’m the only one here who is still waiting for a new thunderbolt display?
I’m patiently waiting for one as well! I surely hope one comes down the pipe this year, a nice 2k or 4k panel would be awesome!
Your current machines thunderbolt won’t likely support it.
Hi. I believe that when everyone talks about the Apple Watch gold Edition price and they consider $5k to $10k options maybe they are missing a strong difference as it will exist from regular watches to smart ones.
When I buy a Rolex, TAG, Omega, Hublot, whatever, I pay several thousand dollars for a watch that will last a life -and more- without any update. It will be able to fulfill its function as good as a brand new watch even after decades, except for some regular maintenance service (mostly cleaning every several years).
Smartwatches, on the other hand, will be obsolete after no further than three or four years, as any other technology gadget does today. They will be perfectly apt to keep doing the same tricks even after many years (probably not decades), but they will by no means compare to features of new smartwatches to come just 3 or 4 years after.
So I sincerely think there is no ground for such premium prices. Smart watches may be beautiful, and indeed some of them are, Apple seems to be ahead of them in many ways, but there is no such value as “timeless design” that expensive watches have, because although aesthetics may be in par with many regular watches, functional value will not. If I change my phone every one or two years, my smartwatch may last a couple of phone changes, but will probably be obsolete sooner than later.
Ah, come on Excelsior no Apple TV update (my 2nd and 3rd gen are begging to be retired)? Well, it’s on my list of hopefuls in attendance along with a HomeKit appearance in one form or another.
Do we have any idea if the watch will be waterproof/resistant or will we have to buy another case for this product?
Perhaps a new metric will be needed for the watch rather than battery life.
The watch enters a mode where only the time is given when the battery is too low. My guess is that this powered down mode is long.
Maybe they should say how many alerts, views etc are possible over x time or before the time only mode is entered.