Apple Watch will not be Sold to Walk-in Customers

Forget about camping in front of an Apple Store for the Apple Watch launch. You need an appointment to get an Apple Watch on launch day.

The Apple Watch goes on sale on April 24. The pre-order will start on April 10. The latter is the important date. Apple reportedly will only sell Apple Watches that have been reserved on April 24. We expect huge lines ahead of April 10 unless Apple is launching some kind of online reservation system for the try-on sessions already during the pre-order phase.

A document leaked according to MacRumors that says that Apple is not allowing any walk-in retail purchases for the Apple Watch at launch. Customers must make an online so-called Product Reservation to reserve a specific Apple Watch at an Apple Store. The new Product Reservation system is used instead of Apple’s Personal Pickup system for Apple Watches.

If a customer does walk in and wants to buy an Apple Watch, Apple instructs its sales personal to offer the option to try on an Apple Watch and then help them place an order online or through the Apple Store app.

Apple will reportedly also not allow to swap bands during the 5 to 15min. try-on sessions. Theoretically customers can mix and match all bands between the different Apple Watch case designs. The changing of a band requires though to much time during the try-on session. 

The only way to walk in on April 24 into an Apple Store without a reservation is to buy a $10k Apple Watch Edition. Apple’s royal treatment for Edition customers reportedly includes no wait time. 

The Apple Watch starts at $349 for the small case (38mm) Sport Edition. The Apple Watch Pre-order starts on April 10 in 9 countries (Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US) and the Apple Watch ships on April 24.

The Apple Watch introduces a new design and iOS-based user interface created specifically for a smaller device. Apple Watch features the Digital Crown, a new way to scroll, zoom and navigate fluidly, without obstructing the display. The Digital Crown also serves as the Home button and a quick way to access Siri. The Retina display on Apple Watch features Force Touch, a technology that senses the difference between a tap and a press, providing a new way to access controls within Apple Watch apps. 

The Apple Watch introduces the Taptic Engine and a built-in speaker that together discreetly enable an entirely new vocabulary of alerts and notifications you can both hear and feel. Apple custom-designed its own S1 SiP (System in Package) to miniaturize an entire computer architecture onto a single chip. Apple Watch also features Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 4.0 to pair seamlessly with your iPhone. Besides the smart watch features the Apple Watch keeps time to within 50 milliseconds of UTC, the universal time standard when synching regularly with the iPhone.

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