Will you buy an Apple Watch?

[stimpson]

Interesting. It must be the type of LCD as the GPS screen in both of my cars is fine with polarized glasses on.

Anyway, I got an email from Apple with an updated delivery on my wife's watch- Now it says April 24th - May 8 delivery. It first claimed I would have it on 4/24. I haven't told my wife the bad news yet.

They really under estimated the sales volume on this.

So much for Apple claiming delivery dates would probably be quicker than initially stated.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Apple is perfectly ok with people waiting for delivery. Convinced it is part of their overall plan. The demand for these things is intriguing to me. Particularly when holding one, and seeing how small of a screen we are talking about.

 

[navychop]

SOME wait may be good. Too much wait means people go to their competitors.

 

[tigerfan33]

Interesting. It must be the type of LCD as the GPS screen in both of my cars is fine with polarized glasses on.

Anyway, I got an email from Apple with an updated delivery on my wife's watch- Now it says April 24th - May 8 delivery. It first claimed I would have it on 4/24. I haven't told my wife the bad news yet.

They really under estimated the sales volume on this.

If you check out Macrumors Forum (which get out of hand quickly) no one ever had a firm 24th date confirmation.
4/24-5/8 is the only sent out by Apple for the first batch of orders.
You can go into your Apple account and check the status.

 

[mike123abc]

Probably being fedex'ed directly from China, probably want to hedge a few days for customs.

 

[TheForce]

The 4/24 only date was noted in the order confirmed during purchase in the web site; the email showed the additional 5/8 date.

I don't usually follow those MacRumors I prefer to trust reports from people I know rather than people I don't know. That's why I read and post here.

Told my wife and got that pouty look.

Navychop-
I don't see a long wait at this point causing anyone to dump their iphone 5-6 for a Samsung just to have a smart watch a few months sooner. Doesn't make sense. A year ago, yes. The time I got the Sony android watch and the Samsung phone was over a year ago for the Samsung and 2 years for the watch. At that time the Apple watch was way off in the future and just a rumor. Sony was just 2 years ahead of Apple.

Probably being fedex'ed directly from China, probably want to hedge a few days for customs.

Sounds logical. They are also launching in other countries and orders probably far exceeding supply.

I know some people in this bunch aren't inclined to spend more that $29 for a watch but if you ever went into a Mall and looked at any department store or higher end jewelry store, you would notice the average watch price for a good one that just tells time is more like $400, and popularity has not diminished. A watch remains the most popular jewelry item. So, the Apple, at $349 seems to be the perfect price. If you want a specialty watch that does more, with timers and stop watches, these are more like $500. The Apple Gold model, I do believe is way over priced and should have been made as a Gold Plated model at $1500. This is what most Gold watches run and are very popular. The real question is how long before we see a major hardware upgrade that spells the life of the Apple Watch v1? I have a feeling it will be much longer than the iphone with several software upgrades between.


Has anyone seen the new Apple watch band that contains integrated battery that attaches to the back for additional run time? I'm excited about all the creative gadgets being released for the Apple Watch too.

 

[Foxbat]

(WAGs follow) I wonder if someone will engineer a body that would fit the ?Watch guts from the Sports model and provide a different body option. It depends on how easily it can be disassembled for battery replacement. It also makes me wonder if Apple would consider a swapout replacement of the S1 module with an S2 (or second-gen) module.

 

[bookworm370]

My guess is that the watch will start to be delivered by at least July-August and be in stock for sale by September-October.. Apple doesn't do things out of guessing. They wanted to build up a demand. Then when people start to get them and post about them all of a sudden it Christmas season and people will be running to the stores to get one for a Holiday gift(s).

There is short supply and there is "short" supply.

 

[TheForce]

Roland- that might be a really tough job since these things are so tightly integrated into the case. Consider the case of the iphone and the ipad. Each generation is sized so that the guts will not fit in past cases. Each generation has become thinner and larger in surface area. Better, will be the ability to actually repair the battery with a replacement. Looking forward to the iFIXit videos to see what they come up with.

I wanted to get a new module for my Tissot T-Touch but it cost almost as much as just buying a new one, then the new features of the current model was just $75 more so what do you think I did? The Tissot T-Touch Expert was the smart move, I think. The same will be the Apple watch upgrade. Plus, if operational, the older generation Apple watch may have a decent resale value.

bookworm- I think your prediction has absolutely no merit. Except that the Apple watch sales will spike for the Holidays. Reminds me of all the naysayers on the stock. They predict the stock will tank but these same people are secretly continuing to buy up the stock, just as I continue to do. I own more shares now than ever and continue to buy as I can raise the cash. I still trade, however, on new highs.

 

[tigerfan33]

Good article using the watch as a fitness device. A couple of pics in the sunshine.

http://recode.net/2015/04/20/health-and-fitness-on-apple-watch-a-solid-start-with-limitations/

 

[Ilya]

I was near an Apple Store this afternoon and decided to stop by and check out some Watches.
It wasn't crowded at all and no appointment was necessary to try them out.
My first impression is pretty positive. The Watch is actually nicer "in person" than on pictures and not as heavy as I imagined it. I really liked the stainless steel version with Milanese Loop. I think that would be the style I would get if I was ready to buy one now. The controls felt very good: precise and responsive but not too sensitive. I bet Apple has spent many man-months, if not man-years perfecting them. Really nice job!

I think I am starting to get more interested in the Apple Watch, still not convinced though that I need one and that it's worth the price. I'll wait to see how good the apps are.

 

[tigerfan33]

Reports are the watches are preparing to ship for many here in the U.S. I'm in the first batch but just checked mine and it is still processing.

 

[mike123abc]

Reports are the watches are preparing to ship for many here in the U.S. I'm in the first batch but just checked mine and it is still processing.

If they follow the iPhone model they will ship on the 23 from China (22nd here) and make it to your home on the 24th.

 

[TheForce]

I wonder if any will get the SS models in that first batch. It appears from all the people commenting that the first batch of SS models are in May, when mine are due.

Oh Cool! I just checked and see a note on my order that it is not eligible to be canceled or changed since it is now scheduled and ready to ship. Expected delivery on 4-24

Another indicator- I checked my CC and it has been billed for the above sport model.

I checked the SS model and it still allows me to cancel. Delivery estimate 5-8 to 5-27

 

[mike123abc]

My extra charging cables and bands look like they will be delivered this week or next... The watches are still scheduled for June and July...

 

[TheForce]

That sucks! What a teaser. Did you order SS? Or just late on the Sport?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

this is what I figured...
https://recodetech.files.wordpress....in-sunlight-cropped.jpg?quality=80&strip=info

 

[TheForce]

When my wife's arrives, I will post a side by side of the Sony2 next to the Apple in bright Florida sun. While I find the example not perfect, it is better than I originally expected. One thing I like about my Panasonic Professional camera over the Sony Consumer model is the ability to switch to an eye piece for viewing in bright sun. Wish there was a solution for the watch and cell phones to do the same. My Samsung is fair in bright sun, about the best I have used so far. The trick here is to crank up the screen brightness all the way and carry a backup battery.

 

[Foxbat]

I came across the following blog post (http://carlhowe.com/blog/apple-watch-an-overnight-multi-billion-dollar-business/) discussing one analyst's thoughts on Apple's strategy for manufacturing the Apple Watch (note: I guess I need to switch back to using the word "Apple" instead of the apple character on my Mac. I'm reading this at work and the apple logo "?" doesn't show up on the Windows machine).

His one point about the two manufacturing processes, one for the internals and the other for the case & bands, may be a first for Apple (I can only think of maybe the Mac Pro - boards may be provided from different factories and final assembly takes place in Texas). Since all the variations have the S1 module in common, those two sizes (38 mm vs. 42 mm) can be produced ahead and warehoused, with the final assembly in the case to be based on actual orders. I wonder how the Ion Glass versus Sapphire affects that decision? Is that step part of final assembly or made earlier when the display is mated to the S1 module? I guess we'll know more on Friday!

Anyway, it was an interesting lunchtime read and I thought I'd share.

 

[mike123abc]

That sucks! What a teaser. Did you order SS? Or just late on the Sport?

Stainless (for mom) and black stainless for me...