Going to go out on a limb and suggest the watch band department is probably not responsible for engineering Mac hardware. I could be wrong though.
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Apple Watch Bands Begin Selling Out Ahead of Probable Spring 2019 Refresh
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QCassidy352
macrumors G5
I’d like to see some basic colors of leather bands come back (black, brown, navy). They can also do whatever exotic colors they want but please don’t neglect the basics.
While I note your sarcasm, obviously having replaceable watch bands was an innovative idea, otherwise they wouldn’t be so popular. Earth shattering? No. Innovative? Certainly.
CarlJ
Contributor
"With our innovative use of fluoroelastomer in the new case design, we believe the new Mac Pro is the most flexible and colorful Mac Pro we've ever made."
PickUrPoison
macrumors G3
Awesomely original, nice! Yeah we get it. Mac hardware engineers design then manufacture individually by hand all the watch bands. But really bad math. The iMac was last updated 21 months ago, so it can hardly be two years out of date.
btw iMac is on a two year update cycle: 2015, 2017, 2019. iMac Pro, 12” MacBook, and probably Mac mini and MacBook Air as well. The only Mac likely to continue getting yearly updates (usually) is MacBook Pro. 80% of Mac sales are laptops. Mac mini/Mac Pro/iMac/iMac Pro combined sell less than 4 million/yr in total.
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haddy
macrumors 6502a
Well yes I have been down that road. However, the only band I use now is the 44mm Forest Green leather loop.
It just suits my wrist a way better than all of the "third parties cooler bands" that I bought.
David1964
macrumors 6502a
That’s the aim of the game for any business.No point otherwise.
PJivan
macrumors 6502
Why? You want a mac pro made from the same people who makes watch band? Like do you really think this is the reason of the mac delay?
I don’t understand users logic sometimes
Roscorito
macrumors member
The worlds biggest tech company has different departments? Get out of town.
Point is, is says something about a company what gets prioritized, and Apple has known for four years the butterfly keyboard has serious issues, and at least that long about the Mac Pro.
"iPhone SE is back on the clearance website"
Asarien
macrumors 6502
Spendlove
macrumors 6502
I love a watch band but as always you will be able to get excellent copies of these for a fraction of the price elsewhere.
I had a count up - 32 different bands! Fab! Only two are Apple original, black sport from the Series 0 and the new dark grey one with holes for the Nike Series 4 (which is probably my least favourite band of them all)
I had a count up - 32 different bands! Fab! Only two are Apple original, black sport from the Series 0 and the new dark grey one with holes for the Nike Series 4 (which is probably my least favourite band of them all)
I don’t find third party bands to be cooler at all. Most are crap.
Abazigal
Contributor
You probably meant it in sarcasm, but I do feel that Watch bands are the perfect example of how Apple is in a unique position to marry both technology and design.
The ability to swap out your watch bands is one of the key reasons why Apple watches are as popular as they are. I think it’s telling that Apple has gone so far as to create a new system of allowing users to easily exchange their watch bands with minimal fuss, while the watch industry is still stuck with a more archaic method which is so much more cumbersome (and still they don’t want to improve on this).
A perfect example of design-led thinking at Apple.
More likely it reflects the complexity of the products. I don’t disagree with you that those are important issues. However the solutions likely take much more time than coming up with new watch band colours.
So then just out of curiosity, why is apple so aversed at designing MBPs and iMac/Pros with replacable SSDs and RAMs? You know.. technology and design🙂
Abazigal
Contributor
I won’t say that Apple goes out of their way to make ram and SSDs not user-upgradeable, but that keeping them that way isn’t at the top of their priority list.
For example, you can still upgrade the ram on the 5k iMac, but not the iMac Pro. This is likely because redesigning the iMac Pro meant removing the hatch which makes your ram accessible.
Likewise, soldering ram to a laptop takes up less space, which in turn contributes towards enabling a thinner and lighter form factor. So from Apple’s standpoint, a thinner and lighter design is a more portable and better design, one that benefits every user, perhaps even more so than the ability to upgrade your specs yourself, which is a feature not very user might utilise.
It’s pretty much in line with their design ethos of stripping away everything deemed not necessary to the core function of a product, which invariably entails striving to make it as thin and as light as possible.
Sometimes to a fault, but it is Apple’s nature.
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I was wondering when this might make the news. The 40mm Sport Loop in Cape Cod Blue has been sold out both in stores near me and online (in Australia) since I bought my watch on Jan 1. I ended up settling for the Nike sports loop in a darker blue.
Most annoying was the sales rep who happily let me pick and choose until I found the watch and band I really wanted with demo units only to discover he couldn’t sell me the band.
Most annoying was the sales rep who happily let me pick and choose until I found the watch and band I really wanted with demo units only to discover he couldn’t sell me the band.
How much experience do you have with third-party bands? The reason I ask, Even though they resemble Apples bands, they are far from being the same ‘quality’ as Apples bands. Those are two things that are not mutually exclusive. Yes, Apple bands are about three times of what a third-party band might cost, but you receive a much higher quality band and material over third-party. (And yes, I have owned many third-party bands and Apple OEM bands, and I can attest to the differences in terms of quality.)
By more portable you also mean bring more cables, right? I don’t think anyone has ever complained about MacBooks being too thick in the last 8 years
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I’m able to swap NATO straps on my omega at will. Im guessing your first watch was an Apple Watch.
Abazigal
Contributor
Casio, G-shock, then pebble, finally Apple Watch. I look at them and swapping out the steps definitely involves more effort than simply sliding them out like the Apple Watch.