Last Updated: March 9, 2015

UPDATE: Thanks to Apple's "Spring Forward" media event on March 9, we now know the details of the Apple Watch's release date and pricing. They are:

Release Date: April 24, 2015 in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, UK, and US

Pre-order Date: April 10, 2015 (can also demo in Apple Stores that day)

Pricing:

• Apple Watch Sport: 32mm—US$349; 42mm—$399
• Apple Watch: 32mm—$549-$1049, depending on band; 42mm—$599-$1099

• Apple Watch Edition: $10,000 and up

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The waiting between Apple's unveiling of the Apple Watch in September and the Watch going on sale seems like a lifetime. Gadget lovers and Apple fans want to get this thing on their wrists now. Unfortunately, we're all going to have to wait a bit longer. In the meantime, there are two key questions about the Watch that still need to be answered: when exactly does it come out and how much will it cost?

There aren't definite answers to those questions as of this writing, but there is a lot of speculation and rumor. This article will track the most credible information about both issues until we have some firm answers from Apple.

I'll update this article regularly, as new information is rumored and, ultimately, revealed.

Apple Watch Release Date

While it was long the source of speculation and tea-leaf-reading, we are starting to get a clearer sense of when the Apple Watch will hit store shelves: On Apple's quarterly financial earnings call in January 2015, Tim Cook announced that the Apple Watch would ship in April.

(Based on Tim Cook's announcement, all of this previous speculation is now outdated: Right now, the party line is still the original estimate that it will arrive in the first three months of 2015. That's all anyone will commit to, but there are lots of rumors with more detail than that. Credible rumors/reports offer the following details:

• Spring Release: Angela Ahrendts, Apple's VP of Retail, was quoted as saying the Watch would go on sale in "the spring." (Nov. 2014)
• Jan. Manufacturing: The Watch will go into mass production in January, with an initial goal of manufacturing 3-5 million units. (Dec. 2014)
• March: New rumors suggest Apple Store employees will be trained in mid-Feb. for a March release of the Watch. (Jan. 2015))

Apple Watch Price

Much like the release date, the exact pricing information for the Apple Watch remains a bit of a mystery. We know the entry-level price—US$349—because that's what Apple announced when they introduced the device, but with some many different configurations, the pricing for the Watch will probably be at least a bit complex.

Two major factors seem most likely to influence the prices: model and the watch band.

Models
There are three models of Apple Watch: Sport, Watch, and Edition. Sport (designed for athletes; big surprise, given the name) seems to be the entry-level model, with Watch (for the everyday watch wearer) the middle, and Edition the highly priced luxury device.

The Sport is made from an aluminum body and glass screen. The Watch has a stainless steel body and a sapphire screen. The Edition offers an 18-karat gold body with a sapphire screen.

Watch Band
Each model of the Apple Watch has a collection of watch bands that are appropriate to its use and style. The Sport and Edition both offer 5 bands, while the Watch has 9 options. It's unclear right now how much each of these will affect the overall price of the watch, but expect to see some variation.

When it comes to overall pricing, John Gruber, a prominent Apple blogger who has good sources within Apple, has said he expects to see the following pricing:

• Sport (aluminum/glass): $349 and up 
• Watch (stainless steel/sapphire): $999 and up
• Edition (gold/sapphire): $5,000 and up.

Not much is known about how accurate these estimate are, and how much different bands will affect the price, but those numbers don't seem unreasonable—especially when you see that the executives Apple has recently hired come from high-end luxury brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry, and Tag Heuer.

 

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