Apple cuts entry price of Apple Watch to $299

AppleInsider · March 21, 2016 5:33PM

Apple gave its wearable Apple Watch a permanent $50 price cut on Monday, with the 38-millimeter model now available starting at $299.

The larger 42-millimeter Apple Watch will presumably also see its price reduced to $349. The wearable device launched a year ago starting at $349.

Apple is expected to update its lineup with a new second-generation model later this year. New bands and styles were announced on Monday alongside the price cut.

Pricing remains unchanged for the stainless steel Apple Watch, as well as the gold Apple Watch Edition.

joepiervincenti · March 21, 2016 5:37PM

You mean it started at $399

jetpilot · March 21, 2016 5:37PM

Still waiting for the second generation watch. With so many improvements to be had and the watch being nearly a year old, I'm not buying the first generation model.

saarek · March 21, 2016 5:38PM

Quite a few shops in the UK started discounting it a few weeks ago, so I suspect they were aware of the price drop.

nolamacguy · March 21, 2016 5:52PM

jetpilot said:

Still waiting for the second generation watch. With so many improvements to be had and the watch being nearly a year old, I'm not buying the first generation model.

but what about all the improvements to be had in the third gen? why not wait for that one?

had you gotten it at launch you'd likely have had two years worth of value if the next gen doesn't come out for another year.

edited March 2016

volcan · March 21, 2016 6:22PM

So what was the meaning of "Let Us Loop You In?"

appleric · March 21, 2016 6:32PM

I retuned 3… the heart rate monitor was never accurate. I'll wait until they perfect the health features.

jfanning · March 21, 2016 6:38PM

sog35 said:

absolutely no reason to buy any other smart watch now.

How about, I don't own an iPhone

genovelle · March 21, 2016 6:38PM

volcan said:

So what was the meaning of "Let Us Loop You In?"

Maybe the last announcement from infinite loop

welshdog · March 21, 2016 6:44PM

Can someone tell me the last time Apple dropped the price of a device without also introducing a new or improved model of said device? Just curious.

paul turner · March 21, 2016 6:46PM

God this is so boring zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz wake me up once the stock price has hit $90 again so I can buy back in

thewhitefalcon · March 21, 2016 6:48PM

welshdog said:

Can someone tell me the last time Apple dropped the price of a device without also introducing a new or improved model of said device? Just curious.

Last year when the non Retina 13" MacBook Pro got a $100 price cut.

welshdog · March 21, 2016 6:59PM

thewhitefalcon said:

welshdog said:

Can someone tell me the last time Apple dropped the price of a device without also introducing a new or improved model of said device? Just curious.

Last year when the non Retina 13" MacBook Pro got a $100 price cut.

Thanks.

joelhenson11 · March 21, 2016 7:05PM

volcan said:

So what was the meaning of "Let Us Loop You In?"

Play on words for the new apple watch bands

jackansi · March 21, 2016 7:37PM

sog35 said:

paul turner said:

God this is so boring zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz wake me up once the stock price has hit $90 again so I can buy back in

ain't going to happen son. Sorry, you missed the train.

That's right, you're the one that called $150 by 12.31.15 or self ban. How'd that prediction work out for ya? Kinda went backwards, eh?

edited March 2016

josu · March 21, 2016 8:04PM

welshdog said:

Can someone tell me the last time Apple dropped the price of a device without also introducing a new or improved model of said device? Just curious.

The first generation iPhone.

josu · March 21, 2016 8:05PM

sog35 said:

paul turner said:

God this is so boring zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz wake me up once the stock price has hit $90 again so I can buy back in

ain't going to happen son. Sorry, you missed the train.

I'm with you on this.

edited March 2016

razorpit · March 21, 2016 8:08PM

nolamacguy said:

jetpilot said:

Still waiting for the second generation watch. With so many improvements to be had and the watch being nearly a year old, I'm not buying the first generation model.

but what about all the improvements to be had in the third gen? why not wait for that one?

had you gotten it at launch you'd likely have had two years worth of value if the next gen doesn't come out for another year.

Not saying your point is invalid but Apple often quickly deprecates support for Gen 1 products such as this. Look at how long the first iPad was supported (iOS 6 I believe) compared to the iPad 2 which runs iOS 9. There is often a feature set improvement between gen 1 and 2, look at the differences between iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS.

How long will Gen 1 be supported? No one but Apple knows. I was expecting a 1 year refresh and I was wrong. Sources now appear to say 18 months. Had I known then what I know now I might have taken that leap but being we are 12 months in to the cycle a small price reduction probably won't be enough to get us to purchase one so late in the game.

nolamacguy · March 21, 2016 8:39PM

razorpit said:

nolamacguy said:

but what about all the improvements to be had in the third gen? why not wait for that one?

had you gotten it at launch you'd likely have had two years worth of value if the next gen doesn't come out for another year.

Not saying your point is invalid but Apple often quickly deprecates support for Gen 1 products such as this. Look at how long the first iPad was supported (iOS 6 I believe) compared to the iPad 2 which runs iOS 9. There is often a feature set improvement between gen 1 and 2, look at the differences between iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS.

How long will Gen 1 be supported? No one but Apple knows. I was expecting a 1 year refresh and I was wrong. Sources now appear to say 18 months. Had I known then what I know now I might have taken that leap but being we are 12 months in to the cycle a small price reduction probably won't be enough to get us to purchase one so late in the game.

my point isn't that you should buy one now. my point is that even at the get-go people were saying "first gen sucks, i'll get second gen" etc. i dont think that makes sense -- when you buy second gen, you'll be outpaced by the feature set of the third, and so forth. (and yes, there were big diffs between iPhone 3GS and 3G -- video, speed, etc).

that the orig iPad made it to iOS 6 is proof that they aren't depreciated very quickly. in fact, iOS are known for their long lives. I've given each of my older devices to family & friends and theyre used.

as for when the second gen AW will be, no one knows. there are no sources than can confirm it at 18 mos or 24.

radarthekat · March 21, 2016 9:07PM

jfanning said:

sog35 said:

absolutely no reason to buy any other smart watch now.

How about, I don't own an iPhone

---

With a $399 super phone on the market, there's also no reason to not own an iPhone.

jbdragon · March 21, 2016 9:07PM

jetpilot said:

Still waiting for the second generation watch. With so many improvements to be had and the watch being nearly a year old, I'm not buying the first generation model.

What Improvements? I was thinking the same thing but then I said screw it, acquired a used, almost NEW from a person on craigslist, a 42mm space grey version for $300. That included a second charger and another 3 rubber bands. So besides the Space Grey band, I have a Red, White & Blue band also. Since gotten a couple medal bands also. I love it. I think it's a great first generation product!!! I don't see Apple doing watch Upgrades every year, it's pointless!!! Every other year is good enough. I expected it to be that way. I wear mine every day. I'd miss not having it on!!! It's all the little things it does that makes it great overall. A quick glance and I can see what the current temp is before I leave for work or home. Let's me know if it's going to rain soon, (Dark Sky) When when my next appointment is going to be. Besides Data time. I get Notified when my Garage Door opens and closes as that's how we get in/out of my house. using Apple Maps, It's show on the Apple Watch your turn directions and tap on your wrist differently for left and right turns. It does so, so much and I'm learning new tricks and things to do all the time. The Apple Watch over both Bluetooth and Wifi. Last week I didn't have my phone on me when I went to the restroom on the other side of the factory, left my iPhone 6 in my office. So instead of playing with the iphone reading some news, I was on my Apple Watch reading the news and some other things with it was getting from my iPhone in the office. Hell I could have answered the phone on my watch or replayed to a text message. I could go on and on, but the point being, Apple really did a good job for a first generation product. I don't expect a new Apple watch until Next year around this time. I wouldn't expect a big change either. You're limited on what you can do because of space and battery life. A faster CPU for example will just eat up the battery faster. I think it works quite well. Speed is fast enough. Maybe speed from downloading data form the iPhone instead of a built in Apple Watch App could be a little faster. I'd like to see 3rd party Watch faces which cold be done with a WatchOS update. I'm not sure what SO MANY IMPROVEMENTS TO BE HAD means? What are they? There's trade-offs on whatever you do. If you want a week long battery life, you either need to triple the battery size or go with a crappy eInk screen for example!!! Thinner, there again goes battery life. There's no magical solution.

Apple cuts entry price of Apple Watch to $299

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