Apple Watch, new Macbook and Researchkit – all things to look out for from Apple in the coming months.

Apple (AAPL) removed all rumours related to the Apple Watch, which was first introduced at the iPhone conference in September 2014. There has been a lot of discussion around it ever since, but today the company cleared things and announced that it will start selling on April 10th and shipping the device on April 24th, with a cost of 349$ and up to 10,000$ for the fans of gold.

Image Credit: Apple Watch

The watch will come in three models: Sport, Watch and Watch Edition… whereas the sport one is the cheapest one with 349$ for 38 mm and 399$ for 42 mm. The cases are from anodized aluminum, while the second model is made of stainless steel and has a price of 549$ and up to 599$ for the respective model.

Finally the Apple edition has a base of 18-karat gold and has a price of 10,000 dollars. Apple claims that its watch should be able to handle at least 18 hours of regular use, depending on how you use it, of course. The watch also introduced many new great apps including Uber and Instagram, and also features like the ability to answer directly on the hand, etc.

A new Macbook

The MacBook Air is finally getting a long-awaited refresh, and it’s a big one. The new, 2-pound, 12-inch Retina device is just called the MacBook, and as rumored beforehand, it’s about as stripped-down as a laptop can get. There’s a new trackpad with haptic feedback and more gesture support, while the right click has been completely removed. Virtually every port has been removed except a versatile USB-C connector which was announced also today and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. The fan is gone, and Apple promises nine hours of web browsing on a single charge. New colors also include space gray and gold? The MacBook, meanwhile, is coming out on April 10th for $1,299 and up.

Researchkit

Apple’s health and fitness system now includes ResearchKit, a framework created to advance medical research. The kit will include several apps targeted at different diseases, including Parkinson’s and breast cancer, essentially turning the iPhone into a diagnostic tool. Users will be able to complete tests and surveys to make it easier for researchers to recruit them for clinical trials. With permission from users, ResearchKit can access data measured by third-party apps about its users’ weight, blood pressure, and glucose levels. Some of this was already possible with HealthKit, but now Apple’s partners, like Oxford University and Mount Sinai Hospital, will have access to the data. Apple stressed that it will not have access to the data unless it is shared by the user. Five apps are available today, but ResearchKit will be released next month as an open source platform.