We knew the date, now we know the time! Apple Watch pre-orders will officially begin at 12:01 a.m. PDT on April 10, according to a post on the Apple Store homepage.
Want an Apple Watch and live in New York? You'll probably have to stay up until 3:00 AM!
Why will Apple's sales start at such an early hour? The company generally doesn't explain its reasoning for any of its moves, but we can make a few assumptions:
– Traffic control. Apple’s pre-order pages could collapse under the weight of thousands of users repeatedly hitting the refresh button. By announcing the launch at midnight Pacific, the number of people who will pre-order will certainly be limited, leaving only those who really want to place their order first and are willing to stay up late to do so. And if the servers do eventually crash again, there will be fewer people awake to see these complaints on Twitter.
– Apple generally operates on “West Coast” time, and by starting sales at midnight, “first-day sales” will be numbers for a full 24 hours
– This is Apple, not some company debuting its products on Kickstarter. Whatever time they choose, it's unlikely to be a factor that will negatively affect sales – so just choose a time that makes things easier for her.
Pro tip: If Apple.com crashes, sometimes the Apple Store iPhone app continues to function normally and accept orders.
