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Apple Could Be Planning Redesigned Leather Loop Apple Watch Band
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I will never buy a legit one from Apple again. My last leather band fell apart in the humidity of Miami while my 2,99€ bands from AliExpress are still lookin great to this day
I still have one of the originals purchased when the Apple Watch first released. It's a quality strap for sure, but the "feel" of it always felt a little off. It flexes as I move around, almost feeling like the haptics going off. I never could get fully comfortable wearing it. I've been a link bracelet guy ever since. I would be interested to see how they improve this.
Really wishing they would update the modern buckle leather bands to bring that design to the larger watches
The bands available on Ali Express are dirt cheap and 95% cheaper and the quality is fine- especially for the price.
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You can find modern buckles for the 42/44 inch models on AliExpress, quality isn't horrible and mine lasted for 7 months of daily wear before the band started to fray. The cost was 8.00 so you can decide if its worth it.
I suspect it looks cheap, well because...it’s clearly intended to be a cheap-er variant under the more expensive leather loop. I think Apple realizes that there’s a larger target demographic for inexpensive watch bands like the Velcro/sport loop, fluoroelastomer (A.k.a Sport bands), As the band market is a huge monopoly for Apple. There’s very few and far between customers are willing to spend $150 on a leather loop band for a smart watch.
If you look at the average price for an Apple Watch band, it’s at $50, I just don’t think consumers are willing to spend that much money on a watch band, especially when a smart watch is not an investment.
How so? There are literally thousands of third party bands for the Apple Watch.
Leather Loops only cost 99$ right now, Apple lowered the original 149$ price a while ago. I very much doubt Apple will release a line of leather bands below that. If these are real, I would assume they replace the current Leather Loops and cost the same.
This design has been on offer for sometime now as eBay specials so its nothing new.
I am a fan of the original loop design though, most comfortable strap going. I have a range of aftermarket ones in different colours £10 each off eBay. Favourite one being orange.
I am a fan of the original loop design though, most comfortable strap going. I have a range of aftermarket ones in different colours £10 each off eBay. Favourite one being orange.
For both the leather loops, and the milanese loop, they lowered the price to $99 quite some time ago. Not to take away from your point about how much the average person are willing to pay, but the decrease in price did at least get me to buy a leather loop. The third party knockoffs generally work well enough, but they do feel a little cheap, especially side by side. They will wear out and will need to be replaced, so I figured to just go for the real thing, and I've been happy with the quality.
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I bought this same design as a black leather loop knockoff on Amazon for under $20. Ignoring the quality of the strap/leather, I like the Apple original loop better, putting it on and while it's on my wrist. So I shelled out $99 for the real thing. I'm sure it's just preference. But if these replace the current line, I'll be buying a brown one for myself of the current loop design before they disappear forever. Until recently, I had no idea that discontinued Apple bands sell for a nice amount.
This is, indeed, an attribute of this band, compared to the existing leather loop, but unless you have verifiable inside knowledge, declaring it to be the reason for the new design seems laughably overstating your case. All their other leather bands (with one or two exceptions) have had shiny silver hardware, they’ve apparently had little worry about this up to this point. And it’s not nearly as jarring on the leather loops (where the silver hardware is on the inside of the wrist) as it is on the other leather bands, where the silver hardware connects directly to the black watch body.
I'm thinking they are trying to move to two-piece bands to accommodate something... Just not sure what.
I’ve often thought the same thing about the modern buckle and 44mm.
There are a lot of third-party bands that are cheaply made that resemble Apples OEM bands. For example, I Purchased Third-party sport bands compared to Apples, and it’s not even a comparison. The thickness, pliability and overall there’s a huge difference between Flueroastamer v.s. silicone.
I will say, ‘Nomad’ being a third-party manufacturer, does make some quality bands. With other bands, you get exactly what you pay for when you’re looking at a $10 band versus what Apple charges, it’s totally different type of construction, but if somebody’s happy with the overall look versus the actual materials, then I guess that’s all that matters.
Apple has a massive markup on their bands, but I’ve never been disappointed With the quality, and this is coming from somebody who owns the stainless steel link band in both regular and black stainless, leather loops, and a variety of sport bands.
Bleh I hate the current leather loop. Bought one when I got my Ti AW but have only used it a couple of times. That magnetic closure just isn't secure enough, it loosens up very quickly and then the AW becomes a bracelet. I don't know that they could ever use powerful enough magnets as it loosens up primarily because of hand/wrist movement slightly pushing it open. I'd rather see them use the same closure system as the rubber bands which don't loosen up and just get rid of the magnets. Otherwise it was just a bit too thin/dainty for me, I'd love to see them make it a bit thicker and tougher looking.
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I remember looking very hard on Amazon for a leather loop alternative and there was only one, I decided just to get the official one. Where do you see people selling them for a nice amount? I'd love to get rid of mine and at least break even.
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I remember looking very hard on Amazon for a leather loop alternative and there was only one, I decided just to get the official one. Where do you see people selling them for a nice amount? I'd love to get rid of mine and at least break even.
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Because Apple sells good quality bands.
At one point, I used to buy quality bands from other sellers, mostly found on Amazon, for a fraction of the Apple cost. I still do, although not lately. However, I have not been able to find many good quality leather bands. They are either cheap PU/vegan leather (fake), made of thick, rugged cowhide, too plain/thin, or have some odd build feature.
I have always liked these particular Apple leather bands. Unfortunately, they have only been available in 44mm. If they do offer these in 40mm in appealing colors, it will be a buy for me.
