Apple Watch (1st generation)
Apple's first wearable, sold in aluminium, steel and gold.
Overview
Apple Watch was the company's first new product category after the iPad. It paired with an iPhone for most of its work and introduced the Digital Crown, a pressure-sensing display and the Taptic Engine, which tapped the wrist for alerts.
Three collections shared one design. Apple Watch Sport used anodised aluminium with a strengthened glass front, Apple Watch used stainless steel with sapphire crystal, and Apple Watch Edition was cast in 18-karat gold at a very high price. Dozens of bands, from fluoroelastomer to the Milanese Loop, let owners restyle the same hardware.
The first generation had no GPS of its own and was only splash resistant, so runners had to carry a phone. Even so it sold well enough to define the smartwatch market, and its notifications, activity rings and Apple Pay set the template the line still follows.
Why it mattered
Launched Apple's wearables business and introduced the activity rings and Digital Crown that remain core to the line.
At a glance
- Announced
- September 9, 2014
- Released
- April 24, 2015
- Discontinued
- September 7, 2016
- Launch price
- $349
- Chip / processor
- Apple S1
- Display
- 1.32" / 1.5"
- Storage
- 8GB
- Status
- Vintage
Highlights
- Digital Crown and Force Touch display
- Sport, Watch and Edition collections
- Optical heart rate sensor
- Apple Pay on the wrist
- Two case sizes: 38 mm and 42 mm
Tech specs
Specifications as published at launch. Some values (like battery life) are manufacturer estimates.
Display
- Case sizes
- 38 mm and 42 mm
- Type
- Retina OLED with Force Touch
- Brightness
- 450 nits
- Resolution
- 272 x 340 (38 mm), 312 x 390 (42 mm)
Chip
- Chip
- Apple S1 system in package
Memory
- Storage
- 8GB
- RAM
- 512MB
Health
- Sensors
- Optical heart rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor
Battery
- Battery life
- Up to 18 hours
Connectivity
- Cellular
- No
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 802.11b/g (2.4 GHz)
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth 4.0
- GPS
- None (uses paired iPhone)
Design
- Materials
- Aluminium (Sport), stainless steel (Watch), 18-karat gold (Edition)
- Water resistance
- Splash resistant (IPX7)
- Dimensions
- 38.6 x 33.3 x 10.5 mm (38 mm); 42 x 35.9 x 10.5 mm (42 mm)
- Front glass
- Ion-X strengthened glass (Sport), sapphire crystal (Watch, Edition)
Software
- Launch OS
- watchOS 1.0
- Maximum OS
- watchOS 4.3.2
Input
- Controls
- Digital Crown, side button, Force Touch, Taptic Engine
