I'll assuage some of your biggest fears right now: No, you do not need to buy all new watch bands for these news sizes. Apple smartly made sure that the shapes of the new cases make them compatible with the old sizes of bands (38mm for the 40mm and 42mm for the 44mm). When they said this at last week's presentation I was a little skeptical and figured you'd at least be able to notice a small difference, but I should have know better. There's zero noticeable difference – just check out how this 42mm Nike+ Sport Bands looks on the 44mm watch. I know, right?
The Hodinkee review says they fit perfectly...
It's exactly how you would expect Apple to do it.I like they addressed the how it looks - i.e., we knew they'd fit from a pure design engineering standpoint, but with the watch itself being slightly bigger, if the bands would look, for example, too narrow, or the contours wouldn't be seamless transition from band to watch body.
Looks awesome
It's exactly how you would expect Apple to do it.
Right? They usually nail it with those little design details.
We’re waiting for Christmas to replace our two Series 0 - can’t wait (though it gives us some time to think about color and size )
If you already have a stash of bands.... then your size is going to be the one your band collection fits!
Maybe.
We have a decent number of bands, but nothing very exotic and a few lugs + standard watch band that would work with just new lugs. Honestly, we'd be totally OK with scrapping them (probably trading or selling) if we went with a different size. There's also the possibility of us going with different sizes this time (we both have 42mm).
Yes you can use 42mm straps for 44mm watch - it will fit just fine i think hey Tim Cook can you confirm that?
Considering no one actually has a 44mm at the moment is that an impossible question to answer
Yes, they do.
Source: Apple, The Verge review, Hodinkee review
It would have been commercial suicide if they did not.
I preordered the 44mm Space Black watch.
I will figure this out when my watch shows up, I preordered today. I will make a post with comparing pictures with both watches.
What’s your favorite 3rd party Apple Watch lugs to adapt bands with? I’m moving from 38mm to 42mm and I’d like to keep using some of the bands I collected over the years since I started on Watch Series 0. Any help or responses appreciated! Thanks everyone and I hope you’re enjoying your new Apple Watch Series 4 if ya pulled the trigger
I just use the cheap Chinese ones from eBay (99p).
Be careful though as there are two styles of adaptor I have seen, one which the bar holding the strap screws into the lug and one where the bar pins into the lug. Both take slightly different size straps (the bar is 26mm wide strap and the pin is 24mm wide on my 42mm).
I prefer the pin type adaptor and find it much stronger than the screw in bars - I have had two of these break as the screw that holds them in place is TINY.
Measure how wide your current straps are and check they will fit without too much sliding around. I like mine to fit exactly but some people prefer a bit of wiggle room.
They fit very well and I'm pleased as I have a bunch of bands.Considering no one actually has a 44mm at the moment is that an impossible question to answer
Thanks you! I really appreciate your input. I’ve collected an army of bands I love since Watch 0 all 38mm supported. I’ve been wanting to move to the larger watches for years! I finally took the plunge and I have a small set of bands I wanna convert to be used on my soon to be delivered 44mm. One specifically I love the most is made by Martin and Mcarther it’s Koa wood. I’m going to focus changing that one to practice and I ordered a few different types of lugs off Amazon to try out that match the types you mentioned. Fingers crossed
Good luck! Have a measure on how wide your 38mm straps are and then you will see how much wiggle room your straps will have on you new watch.
As for the new series 4 I can confirm the old straps fit perfectly. I tried my series 0 straps on a series 4 in the apple store and you wouldn't ever know they were from a different watch.