Apple Store Down ahead of Apple Watch Pre-order

The Apple Watch pre-order starts at 12:01am PDT. Apple has as expected taken the Apple Store offline in preparation of the pre-order launch.

The Apple Watch will go on sale in about 1 hour The Apple Store is down as expected ahead of the pre-order launch. The Apple Store App is also showing the maintenance screen. The Apple Store is down globally. This means it is also not available for consumers in countries the Apple Watch will not be going on sale today.

The Apple Watch Pre-order starts on April 10 in 9 countries including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the United States. Thee Apple Watch will ship on April 24, but there are reports that initial shipments can be as late as /4/8.

The Apple Watch starts at $349 for the small case (38mm) Sport Edition. We recommend to get only an Apple Watch from the Sport Edition as initial reviews indicate severe issues on performance. Unless Apple can fix this via software updates, the Apple Watch 1 might be the usual first Generation Apple product you can trash in a year. To keep financial loss at a minimum we opt to go with the $399 42mm Apple Watch and for the ladies the cheaper 38mm is likely the right choice.

I personally have already put the Apple Watch Sport 42mm Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band in my favorites in the Apple Store App. Why this model? It is the lowest priced large display model and it is black – geeks love black.

Visit the Apple Store to see if it is back up. We recommend though to use the Apple Store app (iTunes) to place your Apple Watch pre-order. It has worked more reliable in the past at new Apple product launches.

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.

Read the latest Apple Watch and Apple News.