Tim Cook: Apple Watch Launch in April Won't Be Exclusive to United States

[bbeagle]

I was guesstimating on the hardcore people who line up would be around 10% of the lines that normally form for an iPhone launch. I did not say that 10% of iPhone owners would get an Apple Watch as that's simply not going to happen.

From what I have seen and witnessed so far, the Apple Watch is a very niche product that no one really needs. It will be able to do some cool stuff, but then my blender can do some cool stuff too.

This is just the start.

In 5 years, we will be looking back at this Apple Watch release as the start of the end of phones.

This first step is necessary. Things just don't start out perfect. When phones first came out, people wore pagers, cameras AND phones. The phone replaced them all.

Once the watch can work on it's own, most people will only own 2 devices, a phone and a tablet. The world we are in now, where I need to lug around a hunk of metal/plastic in my pocket, take it out to do something, put it back, will seem so ancient and outdated very soon.

 

[kevintheartist]

Right. Good luck with that. Please tell me the last time Apple launched a new product line that was met with no line or crazy sales.

Waiting.

Waiting....

Yeah. I'll be waiting to pre-order the $500ish version as soon as it goes up. Sell my Pebble, and enjoy a fantastic watch with many capabilities.

Love all the naysayers. They do this everytime. Remember how bad the iPad was gonna be when it was 16x9 and a crazy $500? LOL.

Apple TV

 

[mateytate]

Agreed...the build quality of the Apple Watch its a billion times more advanced than the pebble - no clue how well they will sell but there is not doubt this is a very advance watch.

The Watch design may be a more advanced design, but the build quality of the Pebble is pretty damn good to be fair to it. Mine gets punished, I go swimming with it, it gets knocked about at work and its held up very well.

 

[bobob]

Is it weird I have zero interest in the iWatch?

No. But it's kind of weird to post this again and again.

Heh - - I nominate this for a MacRumors Gold Award!!!

 

[Recognition]

So what date is everyone thinking? Early April? With an event a week from today April 3 sounds good to me....or April 3 pre-order date with April 10 delivery?

I'm going to say April 9th!

1, A lot of the pics of the watch on the apple website show 'Tues 9' which is the second Tuesday in April! (Although some other pics show 'Sep Tues 9' but Thats not a date in 2015 but was in 2014)

https://www.apple.com/v/watch/c/images/og_films.jpg?201501081745

2, April 9th is my birthday!

 

[bobob]

The other thing that gets me about the Apple Watch is that the cheap versions look cheap. Only the premium versions look half-passable.

Actually - the "42mm Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band" looks quite decent and very muted as opposed to the green, white and pink colors.

I agree.

 

[Jakexb]

No, there are a lot of people who aren't interested in it. What Apple is going to need in order for the watch to be successful is to find out how to get a lot of those people interested. In the past with new apple products there were a lot more people interested in them before release than there is with the watch.

Every new Apple product category has been met with "meh" and every time they sell millions of them. It just takes a few releases to really get cooking. Look back at the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV

People forget that they were each met with "I don't get it."

 

[QCassidy352]

This is just the start.

In 5 years, we will be looking back at this Apple Watch release as the start of the end of phones.

This first step is necessary. Things just don't start out perfect. When phones first came out, people wore pagers, cameras AND phones. The phone replaced them all.

Once the watch can work on it's own, most people will only own 2 devices, a phone and a tablet. The world we are in now, where I need to lug around a hunk of metal/plastic in my pocket, take it out to do something, put it back, will seem so ancient and outdated very soon.

I don't think so. Phone is the right form factor in many instances, such as: in-car nav, photography, texting, and oh yeah, phone calls.

The combination of a watch and tablet would leave me in the lurch in many, many instances.

 

[Flow39]

I'm going to say April 9th!

1, A lot of the pics of the watch on the apple website show 'Tues 9' which is the second Tuesday in April! (Although some other pics show 'Sep Tues 9' but Thats not a date in 2015 but was in 2014)

https://www.apple.com/v/watch/c/images/og_films.jpg?201501081745

2, April 9th is my birthday!

I'd bet that the launch will be on April 10th. A Friday launch is what they have done for the iPhones for a while now, and it works. I don't see why they would do a Thursday Launch for the Watch.

 

[BvizioN]

I think that means..they overestimated the market, built way too many and need to sell them all.

Or just maybe they would want to do what any other business company do, sell as many as they can, on a many places as they can?

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Wait, you don't even want to try the watch on before you order it?

Why would he, if he can send it back of he doesn't like it?

 

[576316]

I'm still struggling to determine the order of the different models and which of the Sport and regular Apple Watch will be the cheapest model. It's easy to say it'll be the Sport version because of the cheaper materials, but the ordering of the devices in all of Apple's promotional material would seem to suggest otherwise. Who knows, it could have more advanced features for measuring activity than the regular Watch.

Obviously it's a given that the Apple Watch Edition will be the most expensive.

 

[bobob]

This is just the start.

In 5 years, we will be looking back at this Apple Watch release as the start of the end of phones.

This first step is necessary. Things just don't start out perfect. When phones first came out, people wore pagers, cameras AND phones. The phone replaced them all.

Once the watch can work on it's own, most people will only own 2 devices, a phone and a tablet. The world we are in now, where I need to lug around a hunk of metal/plastic in my pocket, take it out to do something, put it back, will seem so ancient and outdated very soon.

I don't think so. Phone is the right form factor in many instances, such as: in-car nav, photography, texting, and oh yeah, phone calls.

The bolded part above is already the way many people prioritize that function on their mobile device - - by 2020, I wouldn't be surprised to find that phone calls are almost obsolete, only used by grandparents and luddites.

 

[Menopause]

Well, living in Germany I've then just one thing to say:

 

[doelcm82]

I was guesstimating on the hardcore people who line up would be around 10% of the lines that normally form for an iPhone launch. I did not say that 10% of iPhone owners would get an Apple Watch as that's simply not going to happen.

From what I have seen and witnessed so far, the Apple Watch is a very niche product that no one really needs. It will be able to do some cool stuff, but then my blender can do some cool stuff too.

If you looked at the people in line for the iPhone 6, you would see that most of them already had a smart phone (likely an earlier model iPhone). They were not in line for something they really needed. Just an upgraded version of something they already had.

 

[Fiestaman]

From what I have seen and witnessed so far, the Apple Watch is a very niche product that no one really needs. It will be able to do some cool stuff, but then my blender can do some cool stuff too.

Does anyone need a smartphone? A tablet? Nope. But it sure is nice to have them. So, I don't see your point.

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No, the tablet was always a great idea but no one had done it properly until Apple released the iPad.

No, the smartwatch was always a great idea but no one had done it properly until Apple released the Apple Watch.

See what I did there?

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No, the smartwatch was always a great idea but no one had done it properly until Apple released the Apple Watch.

Doh. Beat me to it.

 

[rjlawrencejr]

I was guesstimating on the hardcore people who line up would be around 10% of the lines that normally form for an iPhone launch. I did not say that 10% of iPhone owners would get an Apple Watch as that's simply not going to happen.

From what I have seen and witnessed so far, the Apple Watch is a very niche product that no one really needs. It will be able to do some cool stuff, but then my blender can do some cool stuff too.

Quiet is as kept no one really needed an iPhone prior to 2007. We have structured our lives in such a way mobile devices and their ilk have become indispensable and it would be difficult for most of us to imagine our lives - dare I say function - without them.

Will the watch have the same profound effect? None of us knows for sure, but I will sure have fun trying to find out.

 

[JGIGS]

Steve Jobs had zero interest as well, he had three things that he wanted to reinvent: the television, textbooks and photography.

I'm all for reinventing television. Current Apple TV isn't the answer though.

 

[Fiestaman]

So, no surprises for tomorrow. MBA gold, iWatch in april, spec bump on MBP.

Well, the only surprise you might get tomorrow is that the event isn't until next week if you think it is tomorrow.

 

[Statelymwhite]

I'm warming up to the idea of having a watch so that I can quickly look at incoming alerts (calls, texts, notifications) without pulling out my phone, but $350 seems awfully expensive for that convenience.

Heck, a nice ring I can wear on my finger would also do the job without the bulkiness of a watch.

 

[the8thark]

producing enough to meet demand shouldn't be an issue, this isn't a high volume item like an iPhone. The issue is only if the demand is higher than they anticipate

This says nothing about shortages. Apple could on purpose make a smaller number of them to test the waters so to speak and make more later if the demand is there.

 

[Keirasplace]

No, there are a lot of people who aren't interested in it. What Apple is going to need in order for the watch to be successful is to find out how to get a lot of those people interested. In the past with new apple products there were a lot more people interested in them before release than there is with the watch.

Really, is that why even the original Iphone didn'T sell so well in the first 3 months? Rewriting history. See that all the time.

BTW, with about 410M Apple watch compatible devices by the end of 2015, they don't need to sell to a large number of them to be a great success. 1.5%, a trivial numbers of 6M would mean its Watch would have all existing watch (and bands) combined since the start of the format.

 

[amirite]

This is just the start [...] The world we are in now, where I need to lug around a hunk of metal/plastic in my pocket, take it out to do something, put it back, will seem so ancient and outdated very soon.

It shocks me that so many people are so ridiculously short-sighted and unimaginative that they fail to see this. I recently had a debate with some "investors" who see no potential in wearables as a category, let alone the Apple watch.

The importance of smart watches seems obvious to me. The war between the pocket and the wrist has already happened once—the convenience of the wrist will win again.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Once the watch can work on it's own, most people will only own 2 devices, a phone and a tablet. The world we are in now, where I need to lug around a hunk of metal/plastic in my pocket, take it out to do something, put it back, will seem so ancient and outdated very soon.

This I agree with. Whilst some don't see the need for a watch, I do find reaching into your pocket, swiping your phone to read or “glance” at a text, email etc. is actually very time consuming. I see the same with applications like Maps. It appears pointless and time consuming to walk out of the subway, take out your phone, open Google Maps/Maps, enter the destination, see directions and then hold out the phone whilst it directs you. As the watch is already strapped to your wrist it would be much easier to use that as the input device as long with receiving the alerts whether by the screen or haptic feedback. I noted that on Maps it can vibrate into your wrist for left and right directions. That’s a much better approach. I see the same for fitness apps like Strava, myFitness Pal etc. If you’re running or cycling you really can’t pull out your phone to check things like heartrate or your segment time. A watch is much better for that purpose.

 

[Max(IT)]

I agree.

Image

Agree. As I said, I can't see anything cheap on it.

 

[Fiestaman]

I see the same for fitness apps like Strava, myFitness Pal etc. If you’re running or cycling you really can’t pull out your phone to check things like heartrate or your segment time. A phone is much better for that purpose.

I already do this with my Pebble watch. The information shown is customizable with different pages and I love it. I can also use my watch to start, pause, and mark a lap. Plus, I can easily see any notifications, texts, and calls while running without having to pull my phone out. I absolutely love my Pebble, but it is limited by some iOS restrictions. It can do more on the Android platform. That's why I'm going to buy an Apple Watch as soon as it comes out. It will have better integration simply because Apple will allow it. That and I won't have to wear a heart rate monitor anymore since it will be integrated into the watch.