Apple Watch Pre-Orders Near 1 Million

Enthusiastic Apple fans were eager to place their order for Cupertino's new wearable on Friday.

Some 957,000 people in the U.S. pre-ordered an Apple Watch on Friday, according to new data from digital commerce researcher Slice Intelligence. Apple has yet to release official sales data for the watch, but Slice Intelligence tapped its panel of more than 2 million online shoppers to size up demand for the wearable, finding that early Apple Watch buyers spent an average of $503.83 per watch.

As can be expected, most buyers — 62 percent — went for the cheaper Apple Watch Sport model. Those ordering the Sport version spent $382.83 on average per watch while those ordering the pricier Apple Watch spent $707.04.

Space black aluminum was the most popular case, with 40 percent of buyers choosing that option, followed by stainless steel at 34 percent, silver aluminum at 23 percent, and space black stainless steel at 3 percent.

"Whether they bought an Apple Watch or the Sport edition, most consumers opted for the larger 42mm case, with 71 percent overall selecting the larger format," Slice Intelligence wrote.

As for bands, the black Sport version was "by far" the most popular with 49 percent of buyers pre-ordering one, followed by the white Sport band at 16 percent, and the more expensive Milanese loop variety (which costs $149 compared to the $49 black sport band) rounding out the top three at 10 percent.

Slice also found that many Apple Watch early adopters are repeat Apple purchasers. Seventy-two percent of those buying an Apple Watch purchased a product from Cupertino in the past two years, and 21 percent pre-ordered an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus a mere months ago. That's not completely surprising, as the Apple Watch requires an Apple iPhone 5 or higher.

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Meanwhile, the firm also collected some sales data on the new super-slim MacBook, finding that buyers purchased about 48,000 on Friday with space gray being the most popular color, followed by gold. The 512GB MacBook model outsold the 256GB version, nabbing 53 percent of the sales. For more, see PCMag's full review of the new MacBook.

Forty-three percent of new MacBook buyers also sprang for an Apple Watch, and 75 percent purchased another Apple product in the past two years.

If you're still debating whether or not to buy the Apple Watch, be sure to check out our lists of pros and cons.