On Monday, Apple will announce the launch details for the Apple Watch during a special press event to be held at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. With the Watch debut imminent, it’s time to decide whether you will be waiting outside your local Apple Store on launch day to grab Apple’s latest and greatest device. If you need some persuasion, below are five reasons you should purchase the Watch when it launches. After you are done reading about why you should purchase the Watch, you then should check out five reasons why you shouldn’t purchase the wearable right away for another perspective on purchasing this first-generation device.
#1: The Watch will redefine how you interact with your phone
The Watch is an iPhone companion device, bringing some of the functionality of the phone to your wrist. When you are wearing the Watch, you’ll be able to use Siri to send and receive messages, view notifications, control music playback and more. Instead of picking up your phone in response to every ding, your iPhone will stay in your pocket while you glance at your wrist to view the important information coming into your phone. No longer a slave to your phone, you will be free to work and play without having a phone cemented to the palm of your hand.
#2: A growing library of third-party apps
Apple is opening up its Watch to developers, allowing them to produce Watch-specific versions of their iOS apps. Apple reportedly is working with several high-profile companies such as Facebook to produce apps that’ll be ready when the Watch goes on sale. Other developers are working hard on their own to produce companion apps that’ll debut shortly after the Watch launches.
Unlike other smartwatches that don’t already have an existing developer base, Apple has an army of developers eager to bring their app to the Watch. Many of your favorite iOS apps, such as Todoist, Launch Center Pro, and MoneyWiz, will have a Watch companion that brings select app features to your wrist. Think about how awesome it will be when you can complete a task or check your account balance using just the Watch on your wrist.
#3: It’s a fitness tracker, too
Not only do you have notifications, voice control, and third-party apps, the Apple Watch also includes several fitness tracking features that’ll measure all the ways you move. The hub of this fitness tracking is the Activity app, which uses three rings to display your daily activity, including you calories burned and how often you stand up after sitting. You also can use the Workout App to log workouts and the Fitness app to view your long-term fitness progress and goals. This data is then shared with the Health app on the iPhone, allowing you to track your overall health and fitness level. In a recent interview, Tim Cook also hinted at the incorporation of a credit-based rewards system for reaching your fitness goals.
#4: Style options to meet your needs and whims
The Watch is designed to appeal to a variety of consumers from the technologists like me to the fashion-conscious consumer who wants style along with substance. As a result, Apple has created three distinct Watch collections — the Apple Watch, the Watch Sport, and the Watch Edition. Each collection includes different casing options such as stainless steel in the Watch, anodized aluminum in the Watch Sport, and gold in the Watch Edition. These casing options then are available in different colors like space gray, silver, and rose gold.
The Watch also offers a variety of straps comprised of different materials, closures and color choices to meet people’s individual styles. These options include magnetic or buckle closures and band materials such as top-grain leather, durable fluoroelastomer, and custom-engineered stainless steel. The watch bands are swappable, allowing customers to change them at the drop of a hat.
#5: The price may be right
Apple hasn’t officially announced the pricing for the Watch, but most predictions suggest the Watch will debut with a starting price tag of $349 and more than a $5,000 for gold versions. The Watch may be more expensive than its competitors such as the recently announced $199 Pebble Time, but it is an Apple device and has features, such as Siri, that other smartwatches lack.
Apple likely selected this sub-$400 price point as it places the entry-level Watch within reach of the average technology-purchasing consumer. Of course, this price will climb as users add luxury watch bands or choose gold for the case material, but for many people, the Watch in its basic form is an attainable product.
Will you purchase an Apple Watch?
Given all the advantages of the Apple Watch, will you be purchasing one when it goes on sale in the coming month? Let us know your buying plans and why you made that decision in the comments below.
