Apple’s gold smartwatch may cost $5,000

NEW YORK: Want Apple’s gold on your wrist? All you need is $4,000-5,000, equivalent to about ` 2.4 lakh

to ` 3 lakh! A report by French website iGeneration has said that the gold range of the smartwatch, which would include a rose gold and a yellow gold version, is expected to be priced between $4,000 and $5,000.

The report said that Apple is keeping the 18-karat gold smartwatch priced on par with luxury Swiss brands.

At that price, it would be jostling with the starting ranges of luxury marques such as Rolex and Omega.

It would also be costlier than 10 iPads, and more than even the most expensive computer in Apple’s lineup, the Mac Pro, including bells and whistles such as monitor, mouse and keyboard!

Apple CEO Tim Cook had said in September that the Watch would retail starting at $349 (about ` 21,000) when it goes on sale, but did not specify the price range of the luxury gold range.

Cook had also said the company would release three watch collections — Sport, Watch and Edition (which is the luxury gold watch) — at different price points.

The sources quoted by the French website also say the Sport and Watch could be priced at $349 and $500 respectively, adding Apple is eyeing a Valentine’s Day launch for all three. Apple says its new S1 chip, which will go into the Apple Watch, is more or less an entire digital ecosystem inside a single insulated enclosure.

Apple has so far refused to be drawn into commenting on speculations.