Introducing Apple Watch

JONY IVE: You know it’s driven Apple from the beginning, this compulsion to take incredibly powerful technology and make it accessible, relevant, and ultimately personal. We’ve designed a range of products so personal, you don’t put them on your desk or in your pocket—you wear them on your wrist. We conceived, designed, and developed Apple Watch as a completely singular watch. You know you can’t determine a boundary between the physical object and the software. We’re introducing an unparalleled level of technical innovation, combined with a design that connects with the wearer at an intimate level to both embrace individuality and inspire desire. The watch senses that you’re raising your wrist. You see an organization of apps that while new, is somehow familiar. Navigation is fluid and vital. Magnifying content on a small display is fundamentally important, so we’ve developed a whole new interface specific to the challenges associated with a product this small. The digital crown is a remarkable input device. It fluidly zooms into apps. It enables nimble, precise adjustment. And critically, you can use it without obstructing the display. It’s also the home button. Apps are designed for light-weight interaction. Smart replies and dictation let you respond quickly to messages. Glances let you swipe through information efficiently. And pressing the button below the digital crown instantly shows you friends you can contact in just seconds. And with digital touch, we’ve developed an entirely new way for you to connect intimately with others. You can get someone’s attention with a gentle tap. You can send a quick sketch. Or you can even share something as personal as your own heartbeat. These are subtle ways to communicate that technology often inhibits rather than enables. These apps all take advantage of the flexible retina display. It’s been laminated to a machined and polished single crystal of sapphire. That’s the second hardest transparent material after diamond. In addition to the digital crown, we’ve had to invent other input technologies designed specifically for a product this small. So as well as sensing touch, the display also senses force—quite literally adding a new dimension to the user interface. Tiny electrodes around the display recognize the difference between a tap and a press. This provides instant access to a whole rounds of contextually specific controls. For the first time, and with great intention, we’ve designed not only what you see, but also what you hear and feel. We’ve developed a linear actuator to provide “taptic” feedback to complement your interactions. This “taptic engine” combined with the audio feedback from our water-resistant speaker creates a discreet and nuanced experienced. At the heart of the watch is a custom-designed chip that integrates many subsystems into one remarkably compact module, which is then completely encapsulated to protect the electronics. It’s essentially miniaturizing a computer system onto a single chip. The zirconia back has four sapphire lenses. Infrared and visible light LEDs, along with photo sensors, detect your pulse rate. Using its gyroscope and accelerometer and the GPS and Wifi from your iPhone, the Watch provides a comprehensive picture of your daily activity. This allows it to establish and set goals and reward fitness milestones. The back crystal also houses a unique charging solution that combines our MagSafe technology with inductive charging. Completely sealed, it requires no alignment or exposed contacts. Apple Watch is incredibly accurate. It uses multiple technologies, keeping time to plus or minus 50 seconds. We have worked closely with horological experts from around the world to help us understand the cultural and historical significance of time-keeping. And this has profoundly informed our design. We know that wearing something all day, every day, becomes as much about personal preference and self-expression as functionality, so we’ve designed a range of watch faces. You can personalize both their appearance and their capability. Personalization extends way beyond the interface. We have designed six different straps and a mechanism that makes the straps easily interchangeable with a refinement and precision that’s born of functionality. The sport band, in a range of bold colors, is made from a tough, durable, sweat and chemical resistant high-performance elastima. The leather loop comes in a soft, quilted leather that conceals magnets for fastening and adjustment. We’ve used traditional leather but in a new sports context that’s designed for optimum comfort. The supple, hand-crafted leather modern buckle closes with a solid metal clasp that wraps symmetrically around the wrist. The simple leather classic buckle references traditional watch vocabulary. And the stainless steel link bracelet has a slim deployment clasp that’s contained within a 2.6 mm band. The Milanese loop is crafted from a fluid, flexible, stainless-steel mesh with a magnetic closure that has an elegant simplicity and is infinitely adjustable. And of course we knew one size wouldn’t fit everyone, so we’ve also developed a smaller watch with matching smaller straps. From different cases and straps, we’ve actually created three distinct collections. The first, Apple Watch, features a polished case made from a custom alloy of stainless steel. The sport collection has an ion-exchanged cover glass and a anodized aluminum case that is 60 percent stronger than standard alloys, and yet it’s incredibly light and durable. Apple Watch Edition is made from 18-karat gold that our metallurgists have developed to be up to twice as hard as standard gold. Creating beautiful objects that are as simple and pure as they are functional—well, that’s always been our goal at Apple. We designed Apple Watch as a whole range of products enabling millions of unique designs, unparalleled personalization both in appearance and capability. I think now, we’re at a compelling beginning designing technology to be worn—to be truly personal.