The hotly anticipated Apple Watch is "right on schedule," says Apple CEO Tim Cook. Apple's very own smartwatch will become available in April.
Speaking at a conference call with shareholders on Tuesday, Jan. 27, Cook said Apple plans to ship the Apple Watch during this year's second quarter, amid earlier promises that Cupertino's newest product will become available in "early 2015." For Apple, Cook said "early" refers to anytime within the first four months of the year and implied that work on the Apple Watch is going along as planned.
"To us, it's sort of within that range," Cook said.
Earlier rumors have pinned the Apple Watch's shipment date to be March. According to sources cited by 9to5Mac, Apple was planning to ship the Apple Watch by March. Training for Apple store employees about the ins and outs of the smartwatch was supposed to take place in mid-February.
Cook's announcement made at an earnings call is very rare for Apple, which often prefers to make product announcements at the height of excitement during one of its glamorous onstage events. The Apple Watch, for instance, was announced last year during Apple's grand reveal for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, several months before the smartwatch was to be shipped.
The little bombshell dropped by Cook on Tuesday should be useful for developers who are attempting to get on board the Apple Watch platform early into its release. Developers are currently relying on a virtual simulation of the Apple Watch for their creations, and they previously had no clear target schedule to work toward. With the Apple Watch release date known, developers can now time the release of their software with the device's shipping date.
"The creativity and software innovation going on around Apple Watch is incredibly exciting," Cook said. "We can't wait for our customers to experience them when Apple Watch becomes available."
That said, Apple fans are still waiting for a couple more important details about the Apple Watch, such as the battery life and the pricing. Cook himself said users will have to charge the device on a nightly basis but no exact details have been revealed.
Sources cited by 9to5Mac say Apple is going after 19 hours of mixed active/passive use and up to three days on standby and four days if the watch is in sleep mode.
"Battery life has remained a source of concern for Apple over the past year," they also pointed out. This was one of the reasons why Apple pushed back the shipment date from late 2014 to early 2015.
Pricing is also vague, with Apple only announcing that its entry-level aluminum Apple Watch Sport model will be sold for $349. Prices for the higher-end models, such as the stainless steel and gold versions, are still up in the air, with speculations going around that the highest-end versions will be sold for thousands of dollars.
