On Friday, October 8, 2021, the new Apple Watch goes on sale for pre-orders. I mention this today because you might want to set an alarm. Many folks are saying that supplies are very limited this year. And that rumor is certainly consistent with the fact that Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 7 back on September 14, but at the time Apple said nothing about when it would be available to purchase.
What this means is that if you want to be among the first to have an Apple Watch Series 7 on your wrist, your best bet will be to order one right at 5am Pacific / 8am Eastern when they go on sale. I recommend using the Apple Store app on your iPhone, but you can also order using the Apple website. If you are among the first to place a pre-order, then you should be able to have one shipped to you a week later, on Friday, October 15. But if your pre-order is not placed within the first few minutes and I am correct about the limited supply, then it won’t take long for ship dates to slip to two weeks or more.
What if you want a new Apple Watch Series 7 but you are not able to pre-order tomorrow? If you live in a town that has an Apple Store, your best bet is to order one early on Friday, October 15, and select in-store pickup for the same day. Typically, Apple sets aside a certain number of new products for pre-order sales, but also sets aside a certain number of new products so that they are in each Apple Store on the day of launch. By selecting in-store pickup, you can take advantage of the in-store supply without the risk of showing up at a store only to discover that there are none left to purchase. You cannot always count on this approach, so your best bet is still to pre-order tomorrow, but this is a good Plan B. Another advantage to waiting a week is that you can read some of the early reviews; Apple typically gives a few reporters early access to new Apple products so that they can post a review during the week that the new product goes on sale. Look out for those reviews next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Until those reviews are out, why might you want an Apple Watch Series 7? I went through all of the reasons in this post. If you have never used an Apple Watch before, this is a great time to jump aboard. This year’s Apple Watch has a new design with a larger screen and tons of great features. At the same time that Apple is selling the new Apple Watch Series 7 (starting at $399), Apple is continuing to sell the Apple Watch SE (starting at $279) and the Apple Watch Series 3 (starting at $199). I strongly encourage you to get the Series 7, not those other models. An Apple Watch can last many years, so it makes sense to get a better model so that it continues to be a good device even when new models come out in future years. The Apple Watch SE is currently a decent Apple Watch, but it is starting to show its age because it was never a high-end product. And as for the Apple Watch Series 3, it is now four years old and there have been so many improvements to the Apple Watch since then that I find it embarrassing for Apple that it is still selling the device. Perhaps Apple thinks that it sounds good to say that the entry-level Apple Watch starts at under $200, but you are going to just frustrate yourself if you purchase a Series 3 today.
If you are upgrading from an older Apple Watch model, Apple will usually pay for your current Apple Watch if it is not too old, which can help to defray the cost of a new model. Just today, I received an email from Apple telling me that they had received the iPhone 12 Pro that I traded in when I received my new iPhone 13 Pro, and Apple told me that they are paying me $640 for my prior iPhone. That helps to substantially reduce the net cost of my iPhone 13 Pro. I don’t yet know how much Apple will pay for an old Apple Watch as a trade-in, but if you don’t have another use for your older Apple Watch such as giving it to a family member, it may make sense for you to take advantage of this Apple program.