Apple Watch Edition: £12,000 smartwatch is likely to be obsolete in a year

Some had hoped Tim Cook would announce a way of updating or upgrading the super-expensive watch

The Apple Watch will also be available in gold - at a cost of £12,000 (AP)

For a watch, £12,000 sounds like an awful lot. For a watch that will be obsolete in a year, it could prove fatal.

Many had hoped that when Tim Cook unveiled the Apple Watch Edition — the solid gold watch that is by far the most expensive product the company has ever made — he would demonstrate how the watch could be upgraded in years to come. While £12,000 isn't unheard of in the watch business, people often buy them as heirlooms or investments. But Apple's watch, as with all its products, will be out of date by next year.

The company did announce a luxury shopping experience: the watches will be sold in a limited run and only at select stores, so part of the price will be justified by the exclusivity.

Some had hoped that the company would announce a way to swap out parts or cases, so that the 18-carat rose and yellow gold that commands such high prices can be kept, while discarding the insides. Tim Cook mentioned no such solution when unveiling the watch, though it may be announced later on.

Even the cheaper versions of the watch — the Sport and the one known simply as Apple Watch — were more expensive than some had hoped.

Apple went to great lengths in its launch event to show that the Watch's cases had been built to last, showing long shots of metal being melted and cast, and demonstrating the virtues of "cold-forged" stainless steel. But while the cases may not age, the insides will — and Apple's challenge could now be convincing people that the watch is worth buying, when it could easily be out of time by next year.