It's the official launch day of the Apple Watch. While you can't just walk in off the street and buy one (unless you visit one of 5 exclusive boutique stores), customers who pre-ordered the device are starting to see their orders arrive. Tech site iFixit is among the customers who have already got their smartwatch in the mail - and they've wasted no time in tearing it to pieces.
Here's a look at the internals. Note the taptic engine that provides feedback vibrations to the users.
iFixit is blogging the teardown in real-time, updating its post at every stage of the process. New York Times journalist Nick Bilton describes the process as like "an awesome Super Bowl halftime show for nerds."
Watching an Apple Watch get dissected is like an awesome Super Bowl halftime show for nerds: https://t.co/dv4F9FP3BV pic.twitter.com/wI5V4s0O5N
- Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) April 24, 2015
Here it is side-by-side with a traditional watch mechanism:
There have been rumours that the Apple Watch might be upgradable, especially for the high-end Apple Watch Edition, to justify that £13,500/$17,000 price tag. But iFixit thinks that this is highly unlikely, given how difficult the internal chips are to remove.
The difficulty removing the S1 casts serious doubt on the ability to upgrade the Apple Watch. http://t.co/EmPBj4SYhP pic.twitter.com/wZPn6g0JgN
- iFixit (@iFixit) April 24, 2015