How to pre-order the Apple Watch

Apple Watch pre-orders went live on Friday morning, letting people pay for and order the Apple Watch, as well as scheduling try-on appointments.

Apple doesn't want people queueing outside its stores to buy the Watch. Instead, retail chief Angela Ahrendts sent a memo to staff explaining they will only be available online at launch.

As usual with new Apple products, the online store went down before the announcement:

The desktop site is usually pretty slow, so I tried pre-ordering on the Apple Store app instead.

Sure enough, the Apple Watch is the first thing you see on the app. I'd favourited the model I wanted, so there was a big red notification next to my account.

Apple lets you browse the different models of Apple Watch, starting with the cheapest on the left, through to the most expensive gold "Edition" models on the right.

I went for the Apple Watch Sport. You have to pay now, rather than when the watch is released, but that's ok.

After that, I booked an appointment at the Apple Store in Selfridges in London to try on an Apple Watch. You can't do that in the app. Instead, Apple redirects you to a mobile site where you choose your appointment time.