Apple Watch - page 98

Pre-orders for the Apple Watch start on April 10th, but if you’re anything like us, you probably already know which Apple Watch you’re going to buy.

I’ve got my heart set on the Apple Watch Sport murdered out in space grey with a black sport band, even though the stainless steel Apple Watch is a little cheaper than I was expecting. Some of the Cult of Mac staff are still debating which timepiece they’ll be purchasing, but we want to hear from you, the readers, which Apple Watch version do you plan to buy?

Today’s ‘Spring Forward’ keynote was packed with more videos than any event in recent memory. Not only did Apple show promo videos for the new products like the 12-inch MacBook and Apple Watch, there were three separate videos just talking about the different materials that went into Apple Watch.

Apple finally posted all nine new videos on its YouTube channel, and you can watch all of them below:

What will make or break the Apple Watch for most people isn’t a fancy band or the feel of the Digital Crown. It will be the apps they can use.

And after today’s Spring Forward event, it looks like a lot of apps will be ready for Watch on day one.

There won’t be an App Store on the Watch itself, but you’ll be able to install apps directly from a special section of the App Store on a paired iPhone. Here are what the hottest third-party Watch apps will look like, including ones Apple isn’t showing off on its site:

Now that we know more about the long-awaited Apple Watch, it’s time to find out how it stacks up against Google’s Android Wear platform and the growing number of wearables that support it.

There are lots of similarities between the two, but there also some big differences in software, hardware, and price that will likely help you decide which one is right for you.

Starting April 10th you’ll be able to go into any Apple Store and try on Jony Ive’s amazing new timepiece.

If you’d rather not wait and want to see how Apple’s timepiece will fit your wrist right now, Apple’s got a handy sizing guide that will help you find the perfect size from your house. The Apple Store app for iOS also has a size comparison tool so you can see how big each watch face is on your wrist.

Grab the printout version below:

The biggest surprise about today’s big Apple Watch event? That Cupertino’s upcoming wearable didn’t really steal the show.

We got a few new details about the smartwatch, but Tim Cook and crew really blew our minds with several other big announcements. Here are the most important revelations from the show at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

The Apple Online Store is back up and, along with revealing how exorbitantly expensive the Apple Watch Edition will be, Apple has laid out the prices for its various watch bands.

Right now the Apple Store carries a variety of different band styles. We imagine more will be come out as the product line progresses, but it looks like you’ll only be able to get the Classic Buckle if you throw down $10,000 for the Apple Watch Edition. The Sport watch bands come with two bands in the box: one small, one large.

Here are the different price points:

Apple’s big keynote just ended, and iOS 8.2 has already been released.

The update includes the new companion app for the Apple Watch, which will be required for setting up the device and loading apps. It also can’t deleted, which means it will be a constant reminder of the Watch you don’t.

Here’s what the official Apple Watch app looks like:

Not satisfied with just having a regular gold Apple Watch for $10,000?

The Apple Store just came back online, revealing that you can actually spend a whopping $17,000 on two of the 18-karat Rose Gold watches.

Fashionistas can grab the 38mm rose gold case with a rose gray modern buckle or a bright red modern buckle for 17 grand. At least free shipping is included.

One of the biggest unknowns about the Apple Watch — and something we’re hopefully just an hour away from learning — is just how Apple plans to sell its first ever wearables device.

Is the Apple Watch going to be an Apple Store exclusive, giving more of a reason to visit your local store than ever, or will it be like the iPhone and therefore available for sale in a number of third-party retailers?

According to Reuters, retailers Best Buy, Macy’s, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales and Barney’s all have no plans to carry Apple smartwatch — although upscale fashion retailer Nordstrom is reportedly in discussions to be an Apple Watch purveyor.

Apple is hosting a big media event today in San Fransisco for the hotly anticipated Apple Watch. It’s been about six months since the Watch was first shown off to world, but plenty of questions still need answering, like pricing beyond the $349 base model and when the wearable will go on sale. App demos should also be a big part of today’s presentation, because killer software will be instrumental in convincing people to buy an Apple Watch.

And who knows, there could always be some surprise Mac news.

The event starts at 10 a.m. Pacific, and Apple will provide a (hopefully working) live stream on its website. We’ll be breaking down all the news you need to know, with expert analysis and the usual pinch of sass. We invite you to follow along with us below. No need to refresh the page; the liveblog updates on its own!

Here’s a weird setting for an Apple Watch interview: CNET caught up with Eddy Cue, Apple’s head of Internet software and services, at a Golden State Warriors basketball game Friday. And Cue actually walked CNET through how Apple Pay will work on your Apple Watch, as well as how it will prevent thieves from stealing your watch and draining your bank account with it.

One of the big questions we’re looking forward to Apple answering at tomorrow’s Apple Watch event is actually a relatively simple one: Can Apple Watch users add their own custom watch faces to the device?

The answer to that question might seem obvious, but Apple has not gone on record saying you can add new faces to the Apple Watch. Instead, the official website details just nine faces for the Apple Watch.

But if we had to bet on whether the Apple Watch will allow you to add custom faces, we’d guess yes. In fact, I bet we’ll see a lot more about this tomorrow. Here’s why.

For the 18 karat gold Apple Watch Edition, Jony Ive told The Financial Times on Friday that Apple had created a process to place molecules in Apple gold closer together, consequently making it harder than standard gold.

But there’s more to it than that, with a metallurgist now explaining that Apple’s more densely packed gold atoms could reduce the amount of gold it needs to use per watch by a lot.

It’s time… for our Apple Watch desires to be fulfilled. With the big day coming March 9th, catch our Spring Forward event expectations, all that we know about the Apple Watch thus far, and our expectations for other Apple hardware announcements. Plus: why Apple watch will replace your keys; Apple adds cars to its list of products; and since the new Photos app for Mac just hit public beta, we’ll tell you what we like and don’t about Apple’s iPhoto replacement.

Our thanks to lynda.com for sponsoring this episode! Learn virtually any application at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at lynda.com.

Full show notes ahead!

Apple Watch is entering the race to become the leader in wearable tech. And dedicated fitness trackers like the Nike+ FuelBand, Fitbit and Jawbone Up may struggle to keep up with Cupertino’s pace.

Few people remember the MP3 players that iPod left in its wake. Smartphones overtaken by iPhone shared a similar dismal fate. Could fitness wearables be next on the endangered list?

Apple has been very quiet about the Apple Watch’s battery life since the device’s unveiling in September. Reports that the wearable might run out of juice after just 2.5 hours of heavy use have worried many Apple fans, but according to TechCrunch, battery life will be better than expected.

Tim Cook has said Apple Watch owners will need to recharge their devices every night. That doesn’t mean the battery will run dry midway through the workday, though. People who have used the Apple Watch say you should still have around 25 percent of your battery left after a long day.

Jony Ive’s new interview with The Financial Times is packed with nerdy details on the Apple Watch and the designer’s life. Slipped in among the juicy design bits, Sir Jonathan also hints that Apple invented an entirely new form of gold just for the timepiece.

“The molecules in Apple gold are closer together, making it twice as hard as standard gold,” Ive says.

Wait. Gold is a metal. Does Apple’s design studio exist in another dimension?

When Tim Cook was recently asked, during a trip to the Kurfürstendamm Apple Store in Berlin, Germany, whether he would agree to give everyone who worked for Apple’s retail stores a free Apple Watch, he basically rejected the idea in the kindest and lightest-hearted way possible.

But while Apple Watches are currently thought of as more recreational devices than serious enterprise tools, there are those who see Apple’s debut wearable device as the kind of device that would fit perfectly within a business or office environment.

One of those is BetterWorks, a company backed by Google board member John Doerr, which is pitching itself as Fitbit for the workplace. “Having visibility and immediate access to your most critical business data literally at your fingertips, rather than on the phone in your pocket or on the web application from your computer, is super powerful,” creator Kris Duggan tells Cult of Mac.

Even in the wake of an uber-popular device like the iPhone 6, which sold upward of 10 million units in its first weekend alone, it’s fascinating to see analysts hedging their bets when it comes to the Apple Watch. The spread of predictions from these professional prognosticators might as well have been generated at random.

The latest group to weigh in is Strategy Analytics, which is predicting that the Apple Watch will sell (or at least ship) 15.4 million units worldwide in 2015, which would still make Cupertino the world’s No. 1 smartwatch vendor, but with a much smaller market share than others are predicting.

How do you make Apple Watch apps without access to the actual device?

For many developers, it doesn’t get better than the simulation tools Apple provides and some cardboard cutouts. But for a select few, Apple has given the opportunity to test the unreleased Watch in person at a top secret lab.

SAN FRANCISCO — Another Apple event, another mysterious building sprouting up seemingly overnight. They pop up to shield Apple’s prep work from prying eyes, but they also fuel the imaginations of anybody who’s interested in Cupertino’s next move.

The latest such structure — this time with solid white walls and a tented, tarp-like roof — isn’t nearly as elaborate as the gigantic building erected before last fall’s Apple Watch event, but the mysteries concealed could be gigantic.

The big reveal comes at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts next Monday, when we will almost assuredly learn more about the Apple Watch (among other things). Until then, all we can do is wait and wonder: What could be hidden inside Apple’s mystery tent?

The Apple Watch has a secret connector port the company hasn’t shown off, yet it could unlock some exciting possibilities in the future for Apple’s wearables.

Apple designers placed a secret Lightning port inside one of strap connector slots during development, reports TechCrunch which confirmed Apple is only using it to debug watches, but it could unlock an new ecosystem of Apple Watch accessories in the future.

The Apple Watch will be the most personal device ever, and that might include engravings too.

Apple plans to offer personalized engravings for online purchases of the Apple Watch, according to a new rumor from iPhonote. The site’s sources claim Apple hasn’t finalized when it will begin offering engravings, but the customization will almost certainly emerge eventually.

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: