I'm amazed people buy first party Apple cases and bands
It's all such an incredible rip off
I could not agree with you more turbineseaplane. Don't get me wrong, I have, use and like a number of Apple products, such as the 1st watch ultra, and I can also more than afford these products, but I'd never buy an original apple case or band in a million years, as Apple are just blatantly taking the pi.ss out of their loyal customers at the prices they charge. If people stop buying them, then I'm sure Apple would reduce the price.
I have over 270+ official Apple branded bands for my watches. I buy Apple for the quality... my first experience with a third party was bad. It was rubbery and tacky, felt flimsy and cheap, and the pin fell off after only a week.
Apple's band are durable, soft to the touch, have a thick and heavy feel to them, and are built super well... precise machining around the lugs, milled stainless pins pressed in with a washer molded into the FKM, and the high quality plastic bumpers to provide a smooth insert and click.
Have third party bands improved since my experience? probably.
Would third party bands work for the majority of people? i'd believe it.
However, I go for top quality, and don't want to trust my $700 watch with a $5 band.
Granted, I almost never buy direct from Apple. The prices are fair, i feel, but I still don't pay them if I can avoid it. If I really like a color, I'll wait until next season, and I'll go for an eBay discount or some other liquidation. TJ Maxx has been selling $99 Ultra trail loops for $16. Some colors are worth buying used, because they wash up nicely and discontinued colors of the past are pretty rare now.
That's another thing you get buying from Apple... they hold enough value that selling it later is viable. You can buy $5 fakes all day, but you go to sell them, you're lucky to get $5 for a lot of 30+. Apple's bands, however, still sell for $15-30 used if the color is desirable to a collector like me. There are some discontinued colors out there worth into the hundreds. Someone who decided to spend that $49 back in 2017 on a flash sport band could still find a buyer to take a used one around the same price. If they bought a Blue Orbit/Gamma Blue Nike Sport Band, they could flip it for a profit now.
My two cents.
