Apple watch available to pre-order Friday in US

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks about the Apple Watch during an Apple event at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, in this September 9, 2014 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

NEW YORK - The Apple Watch will be available to pre-order on Friday after 12:01 am PDT or 3:01 am EDT in the United States before it goes on sale on April 24.

Appointments to try on the smartwatch and make an in-store purchase can be booked from the same time online. Apple also plans to kit out its retail stores with new display tables with glass cases to show off the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch comes in two sizes -- 38mm and 42mm, and three collections -- the aluminum Apple Watch Sport, the stainless steel Apple Watch, and the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition.

The Apple Watch Sport starts at $349 while the Apple Watch Edition goes all the way to $17,000. All three versions of the Apple Watch will go on sale on April 24th in the US, Australia, Canada, China, China's Hong Kong, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK.

The watch bearers can read emails, summon Siri, receive calls and track fitness goals on the watch. Facebook, WeChat and Twitter messages can also be beamed wrist without pulling out smartphone.

However, 35-year-old Chris Johnson, who works as a baker in west village of New York, told Xinhua that he can't imagine not having his ipad and iphone, but it seems the watch is not so necessary as those items.

"If I walk around the city and get a phone call, I already have my headphones on, so I can always answer without looking at watch who's calling," he said. "Maybe because I just haven't had the chance to use it, so I don't know how great it is. I'll wait and see."