Apple launches pick-up service and Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock

By a marvellous coincidence, the one-hour collection service has arrived just in time for Christmas

Instead of visiting an Apple Store customers can buy online and then click to check availability

Apple has today launched a service in the UK designed to suit those who want to buy and collect as quickly as possible. By a marvellous coincidence, this service has arrived just in time for Christmas.

Instead of visiting an Apple Store to discover the last Apple Watch Sport just sold, customers can buy online and then click on a button to check availability.

When you do, you can enter your postcode and see the five nearest Apple Stores and whether it’s available. If it is, in most cases the item can be collected from the chosen store within the hour. Anyway, you’ll receive an email when it’s ready.

There are other options. If the item costs more than £40 and you order before 6PM, you’ll get free next-day delivery. And if you want to collect it from somewhere near your home instead, that’s possible, too. You choose a nearby place (these tend to be newsagents, supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations) and the online checkout will tell you which day it’ll be ready. These collection points are UK-wide so will suit if you’re not near an Apple Store. This is not as quick – a Friday afternoon transaction isn’t available until the following Tuesday, for instance. For any kind of pick-up you, or whoever you send to pick up for you, will need suitable ID, of course.

Also here, just in time for Christmas is the Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock. Apple Watch owners have a wide range of accessories available, from sumptuous straps to protective cases. And a wide range of docks on which to charge the Watch at night.

Since the operating software was updated in September, a neat feature called NightStand has meant that plugging the Watch in overnight has turned on a special screen where the time is displayed so that when the Watch is sitting sideways, you can still read it. It also gives Snooze and Dismiss functions to the side buttons which, in their nighttime orientation are handily on top.

If you’re buying for the person who has everything, including an Apple Watch, this is a great gift

Where some docks have been of questionable build quality, Apple’s is immaculate. A white polyurethane circle holds a central chrome ring inside which is the Apple magnetic charging puck. This lies flat so you can place the Watch on top with the strap open, but it also neatly folds up for side-on use. The underside has a soft, fuzzy surface that won’t scratch whatever it stands on. It comes with a long Lightning cable to plug into the wall, meaning that you can charge an iPhone or iPad through the cable when you’re not boosting the Watch charge. There are cheaper docks than this model, which is £65, but this has a simplicity of design and elegance which are exceptional.

If you’re buying for the person who has everything, including an Apple Watch, this is a great gift.