The Apple Watch: Everything You Need to Know

1. It’s called the Apple Watch, and it has a square face with a retina display made of sapphire that can tell how hard someone is tapping on it. When you raise your wrist, the watch knows: It turns on the screen.

Courtesy Apple.com

2. The Apple Watch costs $350, so $100 more than Motorola’s (GOOG) Moto 360 smartwatch but significantly cheaper than a Patek Philippe. It goes on sale next year.

Courtesy Apple.com

Courtesy Apple.com

Courtesy Apple.com

3. There are 3 collections, 2 sizes, and 6 different straps, an unusual amount of variety for a company that doesn’t usually offer a lot of that. Doing so for this product makes sense, considering people’s tastes in watch design are probably more varied and personal than their tastes in smartphone design.

Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

4. Apple (AAPL) Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook introduced the watch with Steve Jobs’s famous “one more thing” trick, where it seems like the event may be over, but then it’s not. Apple fans will realize that this means Cook thinks this is a huge deal.

Courtesy Apple.comThe Apple Watch's S1 chip

5. The interface is based on the “crown”—a dial on the side that looks like a rewind knob. Twist it to zoom; press it to get back to the home screen. This allows users to manipulate the screen without blocking their view.

6. Various search functions are handled by Siri.

Courtesy Apple.com

7. The Maps application has turn-by-turn directions, and the watch vibrates in different ways when you’re supposed to turn left or right, so you don’t have to look at the screen.

Courtesy Apple.com

8. The phone can receive notifications from iPhones. Software called WatchKit allows developers to design closer integration with their mobile apps. Apple showed off a handful of apps under development. Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT) is setting up a way to unlock hotel rooms with the watch; BMW (BMW:GR) will show you a map of where you left your car.

Courtesy Apple.com

9. The watch can sense your heart rate, as well as movement, through various sensors. It uses GPS and Wi-Fi from an iPhone. Software helps people track whether they’re sitting too long and whether they’re getting enough brisk activity, and it can track specific workouts. The watch also suggests achievable fitness goals.

Photographs by Josh Topolsky

10. Like the new iPhones, the watch will be able to be used as a payment device, part of Apple’s new Apple Pay service.

Courtesy Apple.com

11. While Apple displayed the watch’s nifty induction charging system, it’s not clear how often you’ll have to use it. Cook didn’t mention anything about battery life.

Courtesy Apple.com

12. The watch works with Apple’s new iPhones, as well as the 5S and 5C. As per usual, it doesn’t work with non-Apple phones.

Courtesy Apple.com

13. The Apple Watch is accurate within 50 milliseconds, which sounds impressive but will make no difference in your ability to show up to places on time.