UPDATED: Apple Watch pre-order: date, time and all 38 bands

Apple Watch pre-order date and time

The Apple Watch pre-order date is set for this week, Friday, April 10, two weeks ahead of official April 24 release date of the iPhone-compatible smartwatch.

What time specifically? Pre-orders begin at 12:01 am PDT, just after the stroke of midnight in Apple's home state of California and the US west coast.

Early adopters on the east coast of the US have to stay up until 3:01 pm EDT, hitting the F5 refresh key on their MacBooks until the page loads. The website is often down under the crush of sales.

Apple Watch pre-order start time in the UK is 8:01 am BST, which is a little more reasonable time of day. You'll just have to worry about dropping a lot of money for that Apple Watch price.

Why is the pre-order time so important? Apple won't sell its smartwatch in-store without an appointment. It wants everyone to either receive the watch by mail or reserve a 15-minute time online, then try it and buy it in person. In other words, camping in front of its stores is history.

Apple Watch pre-order: Sport vs Watch vs Edition

Every Apple Watch boasts the same rectangular design with rounded off corners, but they're divided into three different case "collections" based on build materials.

Starting at $349 (£299, AU$499) and costing as much as $17,000 (£13,500, AU$24,000), the names Watch, Watch Sport and Watch Edition, don't tell us a whole lot about those differences.

With 38 Apple Watch choices (up from the original 34) and nine default watch faces with millions of customizations, here are all of the cases and bands just in time for your "iWatch" pre-order.

Apple Watch Sport pre-order: Sport

Sport is the the lightest of the three Apple Watch choices thanks to its anodized aluminum case that still manages to be 60% stronger than standard alloys.

It skips out of the expensive sapphire glass in favor of what Apple calls strengthened Ion-X or aluminosilicate glass. This further reduces the weight, making it fit for active lifestyles.

Sure, the iPhone-matching matte space gray and silver aluminum case appears less shiny vs the stainless steel Watch, but Apple's 7000 Series aluminum and Ion-X glass makes it 30% lighter.

It's also the least expensive Apple Watch at $349 (£299) for the 38mm size and 42mm for the $399 (£339) size. It's likely to be sold out during the online pre-order.

Apple Watch pre-order: Stainless steel

Pre-ordering the "regular" Watch puts a highly polished stainless steel case on your wrist, one that comes in glossy metal colors of either space black or stainless steel.

Protecting the precious Retina display is sapphire crystal, which is the same glass that covers the Touch ID home button of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Sapphire crystal is touted as the hardest transparent material on earth next to diamond. It'll stand up to dings every time your formerly-bare wrist forgets what it's like to wear a watch.

The cost jumps to $549 (£479, AU$799) for the Sport Band, while the Apple Watch price for leather and stainless steel bands go up from there.

Apple Watch pre-order: Watch Edition

Watch Edition is the most expensive Apple Watch pre-order starting at $10,000 (£8,000) due to its 18-karat gold case meant for VIPs. It'll be locked inside a safe at your local Apple Store.

It's been crafted by Apple's metallurgists to be twice as hard as standard gold, says the Cupertino company, and will come in two colors: yellow gold and rose gold.

Complementing those cases are color-matching bands made of either leather or fluoroelastomer plastic. These special Apple Watch bands can't be pre-order separately online.

That said, bands are the next step the Apple Watch pre-order process.

Apple Watch pre-order: 6 bands styles, 18 colors

Apple Watch is all about personalization with six band types and 18 colors, all of which are easily interchangeable thanks a unique slide-out locking mechanism.

Yes, it's a proprietary watch strap - did you expect anything less? - but it looks to be a whole lot easier to switch out compared to the irksome hidden pins of the Moto 360.

I'm okay with that. I want the sport band at the gym and the Milanese loop for a night on the town without the hassle of digging into the watch case with a pair of tweezers.

Apple Watch pre-order: Sport band

Despite its name, the sport band is an out-of-the-box option among all three case pre-orders, not just the Apple Watch Sport.

The band is made of smooth fluoroelastomer, so it's resilient for all activities and fastens with a simple pin-and-tuck closure. Hopefully it's easier to buckle than the Fitbit Charge.

The sport band is available in the most colors on the Sport Watch: white, black, blue, green or pink. Regular Watch and Watch Edition buyers can choose between black or white.

Apple Watch pre-order: Link bracelet

Available with a regular Apple Watch pre-order, the link bracelet is one of two stainless steel bands. This one matches the 316L stainless steel alloy of the case.

It has more than 100 components and the brushed metal links increase in width closer to the case. A custom butterfly closure folds neatly within the bracelet.

Best of all, you can add and remove links with a simple release button. No jeweler visits or special tools required for this stainless steel or space black-colored strap.

Apple Watch pre-order: Milanese loop

One of the classiest-looking Apple Watch bands is the Milanese loop, a stainless steel mesh strap that loops from case to clasp.

Emphasizing that woven metal design, there's hardly a clasp. Its tiny magnetic end makes the strap infinitely adjustable and tucks behind the band for a seamless look on one's wrist.

An out-of-the box option with the regular Apple Watch pre-orders, the Milanese loop is truly one of a kind in that it only comes in a stainless steel color.

Apple Watch pre-order: Modern buckle (leather)

A modern buckle adorns the bottom of the first of three leather pre-orders among Apple Watches, complete with top-grain leather sourced from France.

The French tannery is said to have been established in 1803, but Apple puts a tech-savvy twist on the buckle. It's a two-piece magnetic clasp that only looks ordinary when together.

This leather option comes in black, soft pink, brown or midnight blue for the regular Watch and bright black, red or rose gray for the premium Watch Edition, all meant for the smaller 38mm watch size.

Apple Watch pre-order: Classic buckle (leather)

If the Apple Watch modern buckle is a normal-looking watch band with a magnetic twist, then the classic buckle is an ordinary-looking variant without one.

No tricks here. It's just a traditional and secure band that feeds through a stainless steel or an 18-karat gold loop and matches the watch case.

The classic buckle's leather is from the Netherlands and the color choices are as simple as can be: it comes in black for the regular Watch or either black or midnight blue for Watch Edition.

Apple Watch pre-order: Leather loop

This is the leather-equivalent of the all-metal Milanese loop because it tucks magnets into the soft, quilted leather Apple Watch band.

The more pronounced pebbled texture also stands out from the subtle finishes of the modern and classic buckle. Its Venezia leather sources from Italy, according to Apple.

Apple Watch pre-orders of this leather loop band have four color choices: black, stone, light brown and bright blue.

Apple Watch sizes

Less exciting, but equally important is the pre-order choice of among Apple Watch sizes. There are two case heights: 38mm and 42mm.

This opens it up to smaller and larger wrists. The 38mm size is more compact, but having that little bit extra screen space by way of the 42mm option may go a long way. It does raise the Apple Watch price.

It should be noted that a few bands appear to be exclusive to certain sizes: the modern buckle is limited to the 38mm option and leather loop the 42mm size, for example.

No right-handed and left-handed Apple Watch decisions need to be made at the Apple Store, thankfully. This smartwatch is ambidextrous because the screen can be flipped.

Apple Watch pre-order price

Now that you know everything about the design, it's time to focus on the Apple Watch price range because this is no easy purchase at any level.

Even the entry-level Apple Watch Sport is expensive at $349 (£299, AU$499) for the 38mm version. For bigger wrists, it's $399 (£339, AU$579) for the 42mm variant.

A stainless steel Apple Watch costs $549 (£479, AU$799) or $599 (£519, AU$879) with the rubberized Sport band. Adding leather or an all-metal band costs anywhere from $649 (£559, AU$949) to $1,099 (£949, AU$1,629).

And the 18-karat gold Apple Watch price range is $10,000 (£8,000, AU$14,000) to $17,000 (£13,500, AU$24,000), complete with VIP treatment.

• You can find out more in our Apple Watch price range breakdown

Apple Watch faces

There are nine different default faces from Apple, according to its official website, and likely a lot more to come from third-party developers currently testing out WatchKit.

The great thing about smartwatch faces is that none of them are permanent when you pre-order Apple Watch, something we were fond of when testing out Android Wear smartwatches.

• Debate: Apple Watch vs Android Wear comparison

Mickey Mouse is my favorite because I never got a Mickey Mouse watch as a kid. But maybe that'll be reserved for Disneyland visits now that I'm an adult.

Analog watches like Chronograph, Color, Simple and Utility can be swapped in for a more professional look that rivals today's best smartwatch alternatives.

Customizable watch faces

Digital watch faces all have something unique to offer. Motion adds a bit of animal-inspired movement in the background, solar lets you follow the sun's path based on your location and the time of day and astronomy lets you explore space and a rotatable 3D Earth.

• Faces and more: Apple Watch video tour

Modular, the grid-like ninth watch face, really defines what Apple means when it talks about complications. Most faces can be alerted to include pressing information like stock quotes, weather reports or your next calendar event, according to the company.

Apple Watch wrap-up

With two sizes for most bands, six band types, 18 band colors and three cases with two colors each, there's a lot of choice going into this smartwatch pre-order.

Apple Watch is launching with a lot of personalization, echoing a time when the Cupertino firm introduced variety among its iMac G3 computers and iPod successors.

Which case and band combination I get has ultimately been determined by the Apple Watch price. Such a new product is bound to be outdated in months to years, so I'm leaning toward the cheaper Sport Edition for the Apple Watch pre-order on April 10.

• Check out the best Apple Watch apps to come

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