From top secret to best seller: the story of the Apple Watch

After years of rumors and speculation, Apple finally announced on September 9, 2014, that the much-anticipated Apple Watch was a reality. AppleInsider looks back at the first entirely new Apple device under CEO Tim Cook following the death of Steve Jobs.

For as long as there's been any kind of smart watch, any 'wearable' electronic devices, it's been rumored that Apple would jump into the category with a wearable of their own. They did just that in September of 2014, at an event that also saw the introductions of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and Apple Pay. It was also the event that included the much-maligned announcement of a free new album from U2. 

Rumors and development


Other than perhaps the iPad, the Apple Watch was rumored for the longest of any Apple product this century. Even the iPhone wasn't as long anticipated: for at least three years, the rumor mill kept churning out suggestions that Apple had a watch in the works. 

In reality, the project began with Jony Ive shortly after Steve Jobs's death in October 2011. Speaking in 2014 to Hodinkee, a magazine for watch enthusiasts, Ive said that he didn't remember ever talking with Jobs about the topic. Additionally, Jobs had never expressed any interest in the concept, either. 

"The process was both typical and atypical for us," said Ive. "We are a tight-knit group of designers, and as always, these things start with an idea that quickly becomes a conversation that changes in nature as soon as you start to draw and make physical objects. Things are exceptionally fragile as an idea - entirely abstract - but once there is an object between us, it is galvanizing."

Ive began thinking of what would become the Apple Watch in late 2011 and the company worked on it throughout 2012. Then, according to 2015 article in Wired on the "secret history of the Apple Watch, Kevin Lynch was hired by Apple as vice president of technology in early 2013 to formally head up the Apple Watch project. There was just the proviso that he wasn't allowed to tell anyone what exactly he was working on. 

The introduction


It took around 18 months from Lynch's hiring to when Tim Cook revealed the Watch using Steve Jobs's familiar phrase about having "one more thing" to announce. That phrase alone caused applause in the auditorium at the Flint Center in Cupertino. 

"We've been working incredibly hard, for a long time, on an entirely new product," Cook told the crowd. "And we believe this product will redefine what people expect from its category. I am so excited, and I am so proud, to share it with you this morning. It is the next chapter in Apple's story." 
Source: https://appleinsider.com

Tags :

Share this news on:

Previous Story

Trending Topics

Archive