Apple Watch release late February 2015?

Everything you need to know about the Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is the Cupertino firm’s first foray into wearable tech, and will be launched late February.

Apple unveiled its fledgling smartwatch at a launch event on September 9, padding out its product roster alongside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

The Apple Watch features a custom-built UI that proffers a host of wrist-borne apps, as well as a pressure-sensitive touchscreen, ‘taptic’ haptic feedback, and the Digital Crown – Apple’s wristwatch-inspired winder input.

The smartwatch will come up against tough competition when it lands, facing off with the existing raft of wearable Android fare like the Moto 360, the LG G Watch R, and the Samsung Gear S.

Latest estimates tip the smartwatch to tout sales figures somewhere in the region of 20-30 million with Apple rumoured to have anywhere up to 40 million units ordered in time for day one.

Apple Watch development kit and model types?

Prempting the wearable’s upcoming arrival, Apple made its WatchKit SDK live last month. Giving early play time with the Apple Watch expereince, the wrist-based SDK is allowing eager developers to prep bespoke apps in time for the device’s release.

When the Apple Watch does eventually go on sale, there will be three model options to choose from – each with two display sizes to complement varying wrist sizes.

The standard Apple Watch model comes with a stainless steel silver or space black colour scheme case with the screen protected by sapphire crystal.

If you’re looking for something to keep up with you as you train, the Apple Watch Sport features an anodised aluminium case in silver or space grey with the screen protected with strengthened ion-X glass with colourful, durable band options.

Lastly, the Apple Watch Edition features an 18-carat gold face in yellow or rose, protected by sapphire crystal. It’s the premium edition of the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch Specs

To start off with, there will be two different sizes of the Apple Watch to choose from. The smaller option for dainty wrists is 38mm tall, while the larger option is 42mm. That’s something that we haven’t seen from any of the Android or Android Wear alternatives so far. Each Apple Watch is kitted out with a Retina display.

In terms of resolution, the developer kit revealed the smaller Apple Watch will tout a 1.5-inch 272 x 340 display, while the larger variant will boast a 1.65-inch 312 x 390 display.

The Apple Watch display can sense force via a new feature call Force Touch. This will allow the device to distinguish between a tap and a press for more contextually specific controls.

Reacting to that, there’s also the Taptic Engine. The Watch also features a custom built heart rate sensor that uses infrared, visible-light LEDS and photodiodes to detect your pulse and heart rate. Combining this with data from the accelerometer and the GPS and Wi-Fi found in your iPhone, the Apple Watch can track your physical movement.

Under the hood you’ll find the Apple S1 processor. There’s no specific specs for the S1 yet, but it is protected from the elements, wear and impact by resin.