Apple employees won’t have to pay full price for the Apple Watch

Apple employees won’t have to pay full price for the Apple Watch

Apple clearly wants its employees to be brand ambassadors for its shiny new Apple Watch lineup that debuts in stores later this month. In fact, it’s offering employees huge discounts on various models.

In a company memo on Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook revealed that a special “Employee Purchase Plan” will be available for 50% off of any Apple Watch or Apple Watch Sport. However, the discounted pricing is only for a limited time — the first 90 days, beginning this Friday.

The prices for the Apple Watch vary, depending on model and band style. The Apple Watch Sport starts at $349, while the classic Apple Watch goes for $549. The Apple Watch Edition starts at $10,000 and sells for as high as $17,000 (for the 18K rose gold model), but Cook’s memo didn’t specify whether the employee discount would apply to those.

Apple will allow customers at 400 retail locations worldwide to start trying on the Apple Watch ahead of its April 24 launch on Friday, the same day that the Apple Watch is available for preorder. As the device rolls out to more global markets, the employee discount will available to staffers at those locations, too.

“We want you to share in that experience right alongside them,” Cook wrote in the memo.

He also thanked employees for helping Apple products reach customers and added that more than 1,000 Apple Watch apps were submitted in the first four days after the company began accepting them.