Apple has already previewed the Apple Watch at this month’s iPhone event and the unreleased wearable is currently on display in Paris’s Collette, but Apple hasn’t shared specific availability details for the Apple Watch beyond saying ‘early 2015’. A rumor from the Asian supply chain shared by Apple Daily (via GforGames) claims Quanta Computer out of Taiwan will kick off mass production for the Watch for Apple in January 2015…While early reports (and Apple executive hint dropping) made it seem Apple’s wearable device would be ready for retail by the holiday season, a recent report (matched with what 9to5Mac has heard) targeted Valentine’s Day, which takes place in mid-February, as an optimistic timeframe for launch.
Earlier reports have claimed Apple Watch production and components would source from Largan, Foxconn, Pegatron, Inventec and F-TPK in addition to Quanta.
Aside from previewing the hardware and demoing limited capabilities of the software, not much else about the Apple Watch has been shared by the company at this point. Battery life is expected to require daily charging and the starting price point (for the Sport model) comes in at $350, but Apple has not yet revealed the range in price which could climb considerably high with 18k gold models offered.
In the meantime, concept designer Martin Hajek has produced a template for 3D-printing a mockup of both the 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch designs based on what Apple has revealed.
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I still can’t believe that the Apple Watch can be more expensive than an iPod Touch ($199) and the original iPad mini ($329 in 2012). The $349 price tag better be for the Apple Watch and not the Sport Collection.
I bet they could sell the Apple Watch Sport for $100 less ($249) and still make a great profit.
When has Apple ever produced cheap crap? $350 for an Apple Watch compares favourably with the Seiko HTM so I’m not sure where your disbelief comes from.
If my price comparison with the iPod Touch and iPad mini aren’t enough to support my disbelief on the base price of an Apple Watch Sport (made of aluminum and glass) that requires an iPhone in order to utilize all the product capabilities – then we have nothing to talk about.