Apple Watch price, apps, specs, features and release dates

All you need to know about Apple's newest gadget

The Apple Watch has been on sale for a few months now, marking the first new product category from Apple for five years since Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in 2010.

The launch of the Watch is seen as a catalyst for the wider wearable market, helping make wearable devices a more acceptable technology form factor in the eyes of consumers, which should help Apple rivals such as Samsung and Motorola.

To help breakdown all the key information on the Apple Watch, V3 has put together a round-up of the main points of interest about the device.

Price
There are three variants, each of which has a different price tag. This begins at £299 for the Sport version, rising to between £479 and £949 for the standard Watch versions, and from £8,000 to as high as £13,000 for the Apple Watch Edition.

The top end Apple Watch Edition will be available only in limited numbers from selected retail outlets.

Release date
The Watch went on sale on 24 April in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US.

Apple has since confirmed that it will go on sale in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan on 26 June.

Apple has now also started making it possible to order the Watch online and then pick up from stores.

Apple has also said previously that it will start selling units from within its stores soon too, as it works through the backlog of orders that had built up during initial demand, as Jeff Williams, Apple's senior vice president of operations, explained.

"We're making great progress with the backlog of Apple Watch orders, and we thank our customers for their patience. All orders placed through May [....] will ship to customers within two weeks," he said.

"At that time, we'll also begin selling some models in our Apple retail stores."

However, it remains to be seen when it will be possible to just walk into an Apple Store and buy a unit, rather than having to order online or reserve from the website.

Specs and features All three models will be offered with 38mm and 42mm size options and are made of different materials.

The Apple Watch Sport has an anodised aluminium case. The Apple Watch collection is built of stainless steel and space black stainless steel.

Apple Watch Edition is built from a custom rose or yellow 18-carat gold alloy that Apple claims is "twice as hard as standard gold".

All three versions include a Retina display coated in sapphire crystal and come with a wealth of strap options.

Beyond this, the most notable hardware feature is the Digital Crown on the right side used to control interaction with apps. The screen is also touch-optimised for scrolling and selecting apps.

Siri is included, so you can interact with the watch using your voice. Apple built a new chip system dubbed S1 SiP (System in Package) to power the device, which also has Wi-Fi 802.11b/g capabilities and Bluetooth 4.0.

The battery life of the Apple Watch was the subject of much speculation prior to the keynote, many rumours suggesting that it may last only four hours with intensive use.

Cook ended this speculation, claiming that the battery will offer an average of 18 hours from one charge.

One thing to note is that the Apple Watch can be paired only with the iPhone 5, 5C, 5S, 6 and 6 Plus, so those with the iPhone 4 or 4S will not be able to sync the watch to their phones.

Apps
Apple released the developer kit for the Watch, dubbed WatchKit, as part of the iOS 8.2 beta and to date some 3,500 Watch apps have been developed for the device.

Apple has touted a wide-ranging list of apps that it considers ideal for Apple Watch, and V3 has put together a list of some of the best apps on the Apple Watch,, such as Amazon's below, which we'll update regularly so check back often.

The Watch can also be used to interact with terminals, such as aircraft boarding pass scanners, and can use the Apple Pay system, paired via an iPhone, to allow the wearer to purchase goods via their wrist.

Watch apps will be available to download via the App Store on the iPhone from iOS 8.2, which is available now on iPhones.

The watch is also designed as a health device, able to monitor movement and heart rate. Contacts with the watch can use the device to send tactile messages that vibrate on the arm.

Sales projections

Apple has so far remained coy on the sales figures for the Apple Watch, which is interesting as usually the company comes out early to report the success of any new devices.

However, with WWDC just around the corner Apple may be saving the announcement of sale figures for the show.

Analysts certainly expect Apple to do well with the Wathc, with CCS Insight forecast 20 million Apple Watch sales in 2015.