Here at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Apple finally filled in all the details on the Apple Watch that it first showed off last September. I was at that introduction, too, and was impressed by the way the device had the weight and finish of a piece of fine jewelry. But not all the watches were available then for demos, and there was little to experience when it came to functionality. The only information on price was that it would start at $349. Today, I got to spend a bit more time with the device, and Apple has released all the information on pricing and availability. (The company also discussed new MacBooks and a partnership with HBO Now.)

Pricing

The biggest mystery heading into the event today was how much the Apple Watch would cost. Rumors had the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition costing as much as $20,000. That was pretty darned close, as it turns out.

The Watch will come in three flavors, from low to high: Sport watches, regular Apple Watches, and Apple Watch Edition models (which reside up in the pricing stratosphere). Starting at the relative bargain end of the spectrum is the $349, 38mm Apple Watch Sport, which is constructed from anodized aluminum. A 42mm version costs $399. The Apple Watch Sport models don't come with the sapphire crystal face found on the pricier Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition models. Instead, they have what the company calls "ion-X glass," an aluminosilicate glass "fortified at the molecular level through ion exchange" according to Apple's description. That sounds fancy, but is essentially the same process that's used to construct the Corning Gorilla Glass found on most phone screens these days. And, don't expect any of the leather straps and stainless-steel bracelets found on the other two Apple Watch versions. The Apple Watch Sport is strictly a rubber-band affair, with five colored Sport Bands available for both 38mm and 42mm watches.

The stainless-steel Apple Watch starts at $549 and goes way up to $1099, depending on which size and band you choose. At those prices, Apple isn’t trying to compete with smart watches from other technology companies; it’s gunning for Swiss watchmakers such as Tag Heuer, Omega, and Rolex. As for the Apple Watch Edition, well it is a solid gold watch, and it comes at gold watch prices. A rose or yellow gold Edition watch with a Sports Band will cost $10,000; add a fancy leather band with gold accents, and the price can go up to $17,000. While it’s certainly true that the rich and super-rich have more disposable income these days, this still seems like a lot of money to drop on a gadget as optional and prone to obsolescence as a smart watch. After all, a Rolex can be passed down from generation to generation and still be just as good at keeping time as when your grandfather bought it. I’ll be amazed if the Apple Watch isn’t technologically outdated by a new generation of devices within three years.

How does the Apple Watch stack up against other high-tech wearables? Check out our smart watch comparison page.

Look, feel, and functionality

All the watches were on display after Apple’s event, and unlike last time, they were fully functional and available to the press to try on and play with—as long as you were willing to throw a few elbows to get through the crowd. I got to wear an 42mm Apple Watch Sport with a blue Sport Band. It felt light and comfortable on the wrist, the touchscreen was responsive, and none of the controls felt counterintuitive or clumsy. While in the demo room, I also got the opportunity to touch and feel the Apple Watch and the Apple Watch Edition, which were weightier and more substantial in the hand.

Text on the watch is readable, but I found the screen comically small for the Maps app. Using the Digital Crown to zoom out, I suddenly found myself launched back from a view of local streets to a view of the Bay Area with a “you are here” dot that pretty much took up all of San Francisco. If the Crown’s main purpose is fine, calibrated inputs, it will take some getting used to. I also tried Siri through the Watch, with mixed results. Granted, the room was crowded and noisy, but that's just when you'd want wrist-top access to Siri—a jostling, raucous setting could make it difficult to get your phone out. When I tried again with the watch right up next to my mouth, my commands came through clearly.

I also got a demo of one of the device’s special watch-to-watch interactions. An Apple representative used the Sketch functionality to send me a drawing made on his watch a few feet away. Apple promotes this, along with Tap (which lets you send a haptic poke to the wrist of another Apple Watch wearer), and Heartbeat (which uses the heart rate monitor to record your pulse, then delivers it, Morse code-style, to someone you love) as new ways to interact with others. To me, these interactions seemed cute but kind of frivolous—unless, of course, you’re sending your arrhythmia to your doctor for a diagnosis, but that doesn’t seem to be its intended purpose.

While it was interesting to try out the Apple Watch at the event today, this is a product that needs to be brought out into the world to gauge its usefulness. Much of the functionality is impossible to experience in a demo room—using voice call integration, Apple Pay, the Activity and Workout apps, as well as numerous third-party apps, such as one from American Airlines that puts the QR code for your plane ticket on your wrist, or one from SPG that lets you open the door to your room at a W Hotel without a key. So we’ll still have to reserve judgment until we’ve put it through testing in—and out of—our labs.

Apple Watches will be available for pre-order on April 10 and will be in stores on April 24.

—Glenn Derene

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