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Apple discontinuing Leather Loop??
- Thread starter Dj64Mk7
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- applewatch leather band
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Yeah, they have it online. But why would every single Apple Store in a 100-mile radius be out of stock?
Apple makes regular changes to their band selection all the time. There is no set time frame on how long a band may or may not be available. It could also be an indication newer bands will be eventually updated with colors or not at all.
The charcoal gray and midnight blue are listed as "new" on the website. I really wanted to try one on but no store near me has one in stock nor attached to the display models. I visited another store out of town and they had one in stock but it was sealed and didn't want to break the seal to just take a look at it. The reviews I read came back with it being one of the more comfortable bands to wear. I may just wind up buying one and return it if it's not what I expect it to be.
The black, stone, storm gray, and bright blue leather loops have been discontinued.
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I have a midnight blue loop coming this week. I can take a few pics (when I get it) if that would help.
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Speaking of which, I am on the hunt for a new 42mm White medium leather. Have you seen any around?
I haven't seen any but I got a sealed one from eBay earlier in the year. I believe I have all the Leather Loop bands now with the exception of this season's. Hopefully I'll find those at some point as they're now sold out on the UK store!
Lucky devil. The only ones I am missing are the white and storm gray.I haven't seen any but I got a sealed one from eBay earlier in the year. I believe I have all the Leather Loop bands now with the exception of this season's. Hopefully I'll find those at some point as they're now sold out on the UK store!
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I believe Storm Grey was a March 2016 introduction so not quite a first year colour, but in any case another thread shows a comparison for you:
Have you seen any videos or websites on how to spot a fake Apple leather loop?I believe Storm Grey was a March 2016 introduction so not quite a first year colour, but in any case another thread shows a comparison for you:
I haven't but it's easy to spot a real one. Fakes won't have the laser engraving on the lug.
I have a feeling that the midnight blue loop has recently (and quietly) been discontinued, even though it is listed a "currently unavailable" on the Apple site. None of the 50 states (that i saw) had any. Best Buy had the "midnight blue" loop on clearance and none of the other leather loops. Best Buy is now sold out of the loop. B&H, who sells loops, isn't even showing the loop on their site. Granted, we could be looking at the effect of some kind of manufacturing problem/availability of the single loop. My gut tels me that that isn't the case. Hopefully, I am wrong.
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Manufacturing defect after 3 years, nah, it's probably low demand. $150 for a 3 year old design, with many cheaper alternatives out there, and the LLs do show wear. Apple's weird color jumbling didn't help. Dropping black seemed odd. I expected the Link bands to go away, very low demand on those. When Watch was released the premium bands were in demand due to newness, but that has worn off. Maybe a slight redesign but I'd think it would have come out with the W3.
I sell the Watch accessories and not much demand for the leather loops. People want the cheaper bands, and at cheaper prices than Apple charges.
I sell the Watch accessories and not much demand for the leather loops. People want the cheaper bands, and at cheaper prices than Apple charges.
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I was shopping for an iPad Air 2 around the same time iPad and iPad Pro were released. I saw the exact same circumstances with the iPad Air 2. Sounds like the band is being discontinued.
If that is the case, I am glad I got one. I like the color. The loops really do dress up the watch compared to the sport band.
The Link Bracelets disappeared a couple of months ago but came back. For low volume items like these I wouldn't read too much into it. Apple knows these aren't money makers - just like the Stainless Steel and Edition Watches likely aren't moneymakers compared with the R&D and machinery costs - but it serves them well to sell it to keep the loyalists happy. They just don't pay much attention to it and hence the stock is a bit erratic.
The link bracelets were always gonna sell relatively poorly because of the high price, but they are stunning signature pieces and will never be completely retired. Sport and nylon bands are the cheap(ish) unit shifters and obviously here to stay. The milanese loops are very versatile and popular and part of the default stainless watch configurations for a reason. Regarding the leather bands, the clear winner seems to be the classic buckle as here choice has actually broadened massively over time; at first it was only available in black; I imagine they sell quite well to everyone who wants a more „formal“ band to dress the watch up; they certainly sold well to me in all those beautiful colours that followed. The leather loops are probably to weird/futuristic looking and not „formal“ enough for potential buyers of more expensive bands; I personally had two but later sold them due to rarely choosing to wear them. The modern buckles were always too expensive and also had a narrower audience due to only being sold for the 38 mm watch (and being the most overtly „feminine“ of all the bands; if the recent price drop doesn‘t help, I can see them disapperaing from the line-up completely, maybe together with the leather loops.
I think that Apple will soon discontinue the leather loop entirely and they won’t even be available online. The Classic Buckle soaks up most of the leather buyers. Apple will decide that they don’t really need two leather options.
I doubt that Apple will ever discontinue the expensive link bracelet. It’s the only metal band they have at that price point and it allows people a way to make their watch stand out from the rest.
I doubt that Apple will ever discontinue the expensive link bracelet. It’s the only metal band they have at that price point and it allows people a way to make their watch stand out from the rest.