Apple Watch Series 7 Pre-orders Open Soon, But Much Remains a Mystery (Here’s What We Know So Far)

It’s been an unusual year for the Apple Watch this time around. It’s not only the first time Apple’s wearable has been delayed until after the release of the corresponding iPhone, but to make matters worse, customers have also been left mostly in the dark when it comes to pricing, specs, and configuration options.

Preorders for the Apple Watch Series 7 are scheduled to go live in less than 24 hours, and yet the Apple Watch Series 7 product page still doesn’t provide any specific information on pricing, technical specifications, or even what case, size, and band combinations will be available.

While this will undoubtedly all be available tomorrow morning, users are going to be left picking their preferred Apple Watch style as they navigate through the preorder process, rather than being able to get some idea of what they want in advance. While there are a few things we do know, the devil is in the details, and those details are largely unknown right now.

What We Do Know About the Apple Watch Series 7

When it officially announced the preorder dates this week, Apple did tell us that the Apple Watch Series 7 will start at $399, but didn’t go into any specifics as to what customers would get for that price.

Based on prior Apple Watch releases, it’s a safe assumption that this price refers to the smallest 41mm GPS-only model with an aluminum case and a Sport Loop, Solo Loop, or Sport Band. This is what the 40mm Apple Watch Series 6 currently sells for in the same configurations.

Beyond that, we’re left to assume that the rest of the lineup will follow the same pricing tiers, but it looks like we won’t find out for sure until preorders actually open tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. PDT.

If this is the case, the GPS+Cellular Apple Watch Series 7 should sell for about $100 more than the GPS-only model, while the larger 45mm versions will be priced $30 above the 41mm ones.

The problem is, however, we really don’t know for sure. For example, Apple could choose to charge a higher premium for the GPS+Cellular versions. Apple also hasn’t said anything about the pricing for the stainless steel and titanium Apple Watch Edition models. For last year’s Series 6, these were priced at $699 and $799, respectively, but there’s no guarantee that the Series 7 will follow suit.

Apple has also revealed that the aluminum version of the Apple Watch Series 7 will be available in an entirely new set of finishes, while the more premium models will retain the same ones as last year.

• Apple Watch Series 7 (Aluminium): Midnight, Starlight, Blue, Green, and (PRODUCT)RED.
• Apple Watch Series 7 (Stainless Steel): Silver, Graphite, and Gold
• Apple Watch Edition: Titanium, Space Black Titanium

In its announcement, Apple noted that the Apple Watch Studio will once again be available to allow users to mix and match their preferred case and band combinations, and that the Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop bands will only be available directly from Apple, and not through other retailers. As of right now, however, the Apple Watch Studio still only includes the Apple Watch Series 6, the Apple Watch SE, and the Apple Watch Series 3.

Ironically, Amazon appears to be a bit ahead of Apple here, with listings for the basic Series 7 configurations already appearing on Amazon, as spotted by Twitter user Basic Apple Guy.

This gives us some idea of what the standard configurations will be like, but since everything is, of course, showing as “Currently unavailable,” there are no details on pricing.

What We Don’t (Yet) Know

In addition to the dearth of pricing information, Apple also has yet to post any technical specifications or comparison pages for the new Apple Watch Series 7, which may also leave customers on the fence scrambling at the last moment to see if it really is worth the jump from the Apple Watch Series 6 or Apple Watch SE.

An internal document leaked on Twitter last month comparing the specs, however Apple has yet to make any of this information available to the public. To be fair, although it revealed a few interesting small details, there wasn’t anything especially surprising there, but it’s still odd that Apple hasn’t published anything official yet.

By contrast, the entire iPhone 13 lineup had technical specifications available minutes after Apple’s September launch event, right on their main product pages. While Apple doesn’t include the same kind of customer-facing spec pages for any of its Apple Watch models, it does publish them in its Tech Specs library, but as of now only last year’s models are listed there.

Likewise, the comparison page for the Apple Watch still only lists the Series 6, SE, and Series 3.

There’s also no information on trade-in values for the Apple Watch Series 6. Apple has only said that it’s offering “great new trade-in values,” but hasn’t elaborated on exactly what that means.

Although it’s certainly reasonable to assume that most of this information should be available when preorders open tomorrow morning, it means that anybody considering the new Apple Watch is going to be left to do their research and pick out their preferred model at the last minute. With stock levels likely to be limited at launch, this may slow some folks down from getting their orders in as quickly as possible to beat the rush.