Apple Watch has had issues 'at every stage of development'

Apple's long-awaited smartwatch drops on April 24, 2015, although there are now rumours about problems with production of the device.

One source Apple Insider spoke to who is "familiar with Apple's internal logistics" told the tech blog that the Apple Watch has had production issues "at every stage of development."

There's also been reports from Taiwanese news site UDN Mobile that the Cupertino company may have to cut initial shipments in half - though as 9to5Mac notes, the site hasn't always been spot-on with its rumours. (And other manufacturers could also help alleviate the strain of production issues if necessary.)

But what Apple Insider is hearing seems to confirm that Apple is running into some issues with the Apple Watch, its first foray into a new product category in five years. There will reportedly be shortages of the device at launch, but these yield issues "are not a surprise to Apple's top brass," according to the website.

While still in development, the Apple Watch was referred to internally as a "black hole" because of the way it kept sucking in additional resources and employees. Even after four years of secret development, Apple still had to nix some of the health-tracking features it wanted to include, because it couldn't account for variations in skin texture and how tightly it was worn.

Apple's last new product category was the iPad, back in 2010. Five years later, there's a massive degree of both hype and uncertainty over the Apple Watch. Analysts are wildly divided in their estimates of how many devices Apple will be able to sell, and there's still no one single "killer app" making the Apple Watch a must-have.

Apple design guru Jony Ive has been a driving force behind the Apple Watch. A former colleague told the New Yorker that Ive has "always been a bit bling" and "always wanted to do luxury."

The design legend is finally getting his way, but it doesn't look like it's going to be clean sailing.