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Apple now says Watch ‘coming early 2015’ for several European countries on its website, matching US release window (updated)

 

Update: Apple has reverted all of these changes listed below. Aside from the US site, the respective pages for all other regions now say that Apple Watch will be ‘Available in 2015’ again. The change to early 2015 seems to have been a mistake.

Apple’s online pages for Apple Watch have today been updated with a slightly narrower timeframe for several European countries. Previously, whilst the US site stated ‘Coming Early 2015’, localized pages in the UK and other regions were less concrete, simply stating that Apple Watch would be ‘Available in 2015’.

This has now changed for several European countries, including the UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. Leave a note in the comments if you catch any more affected countries. The change means that these region-specific pages now mirror the US pages (after translation) with the ‘Early 2015’ timeframe. It is still possible the Watch will see a staggered release, but at least the rollout is now confirmed to be relatively tighter.

The latest rumors indicated that the Apple Watch will be launched in the US by Valentines Day, in February. It is not inconceivable to imagine a situation where the device launches exclusively in the US in February, followed by a wider European rollout in March, for instance. This would easily qualify as an ‘early 2015’ launch. It is also possible that the Watch launch in multiple regions simultaneously. Official news about the launch dates should come out soon, if indeed the Watch is coming out in the US in February.

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Comments

  1. Taste_of_Apple - 9 years ago

    Good news. Seems they’re closer to release than some rumors would have us believe.

  2. The Swiss website also states early release 2015 :)

  3. philboogie - 9 years ago

    Available in The Netherlands ‘early 2015’ as well. Swell.
    http://www.apple.com/nl/watch/

    • Michel - 9 years ago

      No it says available in 2015 (verkrijgbaar in 2015) not early 2015.

      • philboogie - 9 years ago

        You are absolutely right, mea culpa.

      • reichel0110 - 9 years ago

        Yeah, right…
        Netherlands is always slow when it comes to new Apple products.
        Probably because of the millions rules our government embraces for many decades… Innovation is not on top of the Dutch government agenda. But I want that Watch ;-)

  4. Kerisiano Tuaniga - 9 years ago

    its always said early 2015 ever since the announcement of the iPhone 6 and the watch …. they said early 2015 at the keynote this is nothing new

  5. Lars Christian Beduhn - 9 years ago

    As an analyst (hahaha) I say Apple will hold a special event on Tue., Jan 27th. With preorders starting on Fri., Jan 30th. It’ll be in stores at or around Fri., Feb 13th and ship around the same time to people who perordered it to make the Valentine’s Day deadline.

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

      That sounds about right.

    • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

      A Friday the 13th launch? As if Apple hasn’t had bad enough luck with software and hardware releases recently.

    • daitenshe - 9 years ago

      I highly doubt that would be the timeframe. If they were wanting to get it out before Valentine’s, there’s no way they would cut it that close to the day. They’d need at least a week of in store sales for the launch to not put people in a sour mood if shipments are sold out/delayed for a few days

    • just1n12 - 9 years ago

      That sounds perfect! I would love if that is true!

  6. Abedoss - 9 years ago

    It looks like a mistake, all the sites mentioned above saying “Coming Early 2015” now saying “Available in 2015”.

    • nono68200 - 9 years ago

      A mistake which took one day (a little more) to correct!… Happy Apple!

      • bellevueboy - 9 years ago

        Not sure what you mean but have you worked in software development with localization of content?

  7. Firebender - 9 years ago

    Do we know how much these things are going for? Just wondering if it’s a 300 bucks price tag or a more affordable one like the rest of the Smart Watches looking at anything between $150 to $250

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      All we know is the aluminum one will be $349.

      • Firebender - 9 years ago

        Thanks… That means I’m out, I don’t think I can justify 350 bucks for something they claim to be a watch but I have to charge it daily. I’ll wait for the next one and hope for better and cheaper prices (though it might never happen)

  8. senorspaffage - 9 years ago

    Pre-release devices are being distributed in Europe this week so public launch probably isn’t far off…

  9. 10% of iPhone users is all I expect. If they beat that then it’s a success in my eyes.

    I honestly don’t think the iWatch is going anywhere above nitch product but as a stock owner if it does great, if it doesn’t no one really expected it to work so no biggy.

    • bellevueboy - 9 years ago

      Agree. For me I didn’t upgrade to iPhone 6 due to its size but had predicted ( when apple pay roomies were out ) that watch will do payments and that’s what I want it for. It’s hojng to open up apple pay convenience to a wider install base which is great. Also having gone beyond the fitness band in to fashion and style I think it will appeal to a lot of non tech, business/ exec like crowd. My wife is already asking for the rose gold one. Point is adoption might be slow an over all not iphone like but hopefully steady, again as a stock holder …happy. On final note, I am hoping creative app developers come up with app ideas that blows people away, beyond fitness I mean. I remember steve jobs launching the fund to support app development for iPhone after launch and look where we are.

  10. Pierre Calixte - 9 years ago

    That’s good news…I’m thinking that this news should signal that the watch has already entered production and production is ahead of schedule.

  11. Julien Berthelot - 9 years ago

    Well, not in french Canadian, it still says Début 2015, which means Early 2015, I remember, the Canadian english website said; Available in 2015, and in french Canadian it still says: Début 2015. So it’s weird…

  12. Bob Foster - 9 years ago

    As I understand it seems as if Apple is now pushing the release of the highly-anticipated Apple Watch up a few months. While the site (specifically European based) previously stated “available in 2015″, it now says “coming early 2015″. While earlier it was just for the United States, now a few European countries are included in the earlier launch date. The UK, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy Apple sites have now been updated to say “coming early 2015″.

  13. Bob Foster (@Smartmil8) - 9 years ago

    Also I think that the Apple cult dictates what its faithful should buy. If they disobey, they get ostracised. So, expect Holly Apply to sell tens of millions of these useless gadgets. I am sure the Apple God is working on his next creation to keep the faith going.

  14. Bob Foster - 8 years ago

    I liked the Watch in spite of current limitations and was happily using it for notiifcations mainly, music remote and tested the Activity Tracker with a Polar H7 heart monitor strap. For activity tracking including sleep, the Watch didn’t do better than my Polar Loop. Yet, its sheer beauty by itself in terms of design felt good to wear. Until exactly one week into use, a dead spot appeared onscreen, and immediately (within the hour) I sent it in for assessment. Apple refused to replace the OLED and had their third party service centre ask me to buy a replacement watch. Imagine if I had an Edition instead of Steel! If one has failed like that, why replace with another? It seems, they say, the fault was caused by ‘hard pressure to the screen’. Odd. I’ve used every iPhone and iPhad iteration, the MBPwRD2012 and brand new MacBook 2015… and never have I hard pressed any of these contact surfaces. Now, I’m stranded minus Watch and feeling very annoyed at the accusations. This in spote of Singapore’s new 2014 consumer protection laws similar to Australia and the UK, and I feel very disappointed with how they want to do business with early adopters and brand loyal users. That is a genuine let down.

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Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.