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Every Apple Watch band Apple released. Ever.
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Oh ok. I have Ironstone. It’s just that the lighting in the pic makes them look so much alike.
I mean just trust me when I tell you to see the band in this one instance as a very subdued and middle gray. And it looks even less ironstone because it’s catching a lot of blue sky.
Picked up a sealed Cornflower leather loop on eBay this morning for £20, looking forward to putting it on my Ultra.
The Slate Blue Braided Solo Loop may be one of my favourite bands of all time. It only took Apple two years to finally make a light blue Braided Loop, but it’s comfy to wear, pleasing to look at and matches great with the Titanium Edition.
The Weather Network, I like it a bit better than the stock app.
I'm on the hunt for a Royal Blue woven nylon band. Pics I see from Google show a silver buckle, but Chargerstore has an offering with a rose gold buckle. I've never known Chargie to sell anything but the real deal but the difference in buckles is confusing. Thoughts?
In the past several bands, like Sport bands and Woven Nylons, were sold bundled with an Apple Watch in a the case-matching color. The Royal Blue Woven Nylon was available with Apple Watch with Rose Gold Aluminum Case.
Well the 4 of these third-party Trail Loops I ordered a couple of weeks ago arrived on Friday (21 Oct 2022) – quick delivery from China cheap shipping services.Kinda sorta... though they do have this Black/Black one of the Trail Loop which Apple don't do. Have a look:
...or for Braided Solo Loops:
2.29US $ 30% OFF|Case+Strap for Apple Watch Band 44mm 45mm 49mm 40mm 41mm 38mm 42mm 45 mm Trail Loop bracelet iWatch series 8 7 6 5 4 3 se Ultra| | - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.comwww.aliexpress.com
They are really very good for £9 ($10) each, vs. $£€99 each for Apple official ones. I'd give them a 9/10 score.
- Clips:
These slide into the watch perfectly lined-up and as secure, they look almost identical to Apple's ones, that's how good third-parties have gotten!
- Strap:
The straps are only ~half a mm thinner than the official ones, and are M/L sizing rather than the S/M of the official one I have (though I was considering a M/L official one anyway), and TBH there is very little difference for most users between the S/M & M/L sizes of these.
I prefer the Trail Loops to the Sport Loops as they don't have that bulging piece of plastic at the end of the material bit on the Sport Loops, which digs into your arm when resting it on a table (eg. typing all day!) – so it's great that Apple offer it. But I'm really not sure why Apple are selling Trail Loops at $£€99, compared to the previous velcro Sport Loops that sell for half that at $£€49?
See these very quick pics I took, where the official Apple one is the shorter one on the right in all shots:
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Thanks for the follow up, that’s really good to see. For me, I’d say based on photos they do look more cheaply made (as would be expected) so I’d be very keen on an update after you’ve worn/washed them for a month or two. I 100% agree Apple are clearly making a disgusting amount of profit from theirs. I’d love to know the cost of producing the titanium lugs… 🤔
Does one wash these... if so how? lol!
While Apple's margin is seemingly high, they clearly have huge overheads (stores/staff), VAT/sales taxes, large numbers of used returns/swap-outs due to preference and/or getting the right size (especially the 12 sizes on those Solo Loops/Braided Solo Loops!), and those are all not sold as new again (AFAIUI, they sell them in bulk at a fraction of the retail price –like 10-20%– to auction sellers et al., along with new overstock when a new range is released).
So while, yes, it does make them decent money, it's not as disgusting after all these things have been taken into account.
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Sport loops and now Trail loops I’ll wear in the shower or put in jeans pocket in the washing machine. Keeps them fresh 👍
Oh for sure there’s a lot to cover in the price of these bands from Apple. But they’ll be exceptionally profitable items, no two ways about it. And that’s fine, doesn’t stop me collecting them. Do wish they were cheaper though 😅
It’s a little hard to tell given the not so great lighting there, but it looks a lot like the 1st gen Blue. I own one and in darker lighting it looks just like that - here’s a Bandbreite screenshot of it: