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Buying watch without a strap

The nice thing about buying from Apple is that you can pick which band you want. Who wouldn't want a brand new seasonal band? It's the 3rd party retailers that are a problem. They include matching bands, which some of us already have. Maybe they could include a code or something where they sell the watch only and you can go online and select the band you want. Just food for thought...
 
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Good for both the customers (reduced price) and the environment (less packaging, remember?), but it would be very bad in terms of profit margin. Imagine how much less Apple would earn from each watch they sell to those who are upgrading. They ain't losing money, just less profit. And Timmy doesn't like a smaller number on his sales report ;)
 
Having been a watch fanatic for 60 years I’ve never seen a watch for sale without a strap. Nice idea, but it’s not going to happen. It’s a bit like buying a car without tyres.
 
The reality is the cost of producing the straps is a fraction of what Apple charges, if they changed the current practice of including a strap it would have little impact on the total cost, and hence would be unlikely to change the final selling price. The price of the iPhone did not drop when they stopped bundling the charger. I can imagine the (negative) reaction if they stopped bundling straps and kept the current price.
 
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If saving money for Apple (e.g. exclude charger in box), Cook is happy and claims "environmental friendly"!

If saving money for consumer (e.g. buy a watch w/o strap), Cook is NOT happy and claims "what the h...."?
 
Those were my thoughts exactly. But Apple has made it abundantly clear this year that they make far greater profit from the watch bands than from the watches themselves.
 
There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth yesterday caused by the bands😀. If you picked the wrong band your delivery time was moved back by weeks.
 
I don't understand why we keep asking naive questions to cook whose true nature is opposite to everything he claimed.

To cook, watch & band is like "razor & blade" model, period.
 
Will 44mm S5 bands fit properly on the new 45mm S7 watch? I have a couple bands for my S5 that I love and do not want to give up or replace. That's the main thing holding me back from upgrading. Even a 1/2mm gap on the ends would drive me up a tree.
 
I have the same thinking. Throughout the years, I have at least 15 bands. These days, none of the watch bands are my cup of tea. However I ended up to select the most expensive SB Link Bracelet since I don't have one and it seems to match the SB Ti. I meant Apple sells the Mac mini without keyboard and mouse, why not the Apple Watch in 2021.
 
I have to agree. I have a lot of bands. I am fussy about which bands I own. Just need the watch itself. I always end up keeping the band I order with my watch and never opening it. This way when I sell my watch the buyer receives it with a new band. Would prefer buying the watch alone though.
 
I love this idea. the Hermes website had just the S7 watches posted on their site for a bit. Alas...was just a bug as they were getting the site updated.
 
gomichaelgo said:
If they truly cared about the environment, they would provide just the phone or case for the watch to be sold alone.
Click to expand...

In a sense I get what you're saying, but ultimately I don't think statements like this are very fair. I mean, if we want to take this to a logical extreme, we could say Apple should just stop selling everything if they "truly" cared, so they have no impact at all on the environment. I think companies can show sincere care for the environment even if they don't do absolutely everything they possibly could. And we can't really say, "they only stopped including charging bricks to save money" (as some claim) because then how do you explain them still including charging cables? I think the obvious answer is that charging bricks are much thicker than charging cables and therefore have a significant impact on the packaging size.
 
rambo47 said:
Will 44mm S5 bands fit properly on the new 45mm S7 watch? I have a couple bands for my S5 that I love and do not want to give up or replace. That's the main thing holding me back from upgrading. Even a 1/2mm gap on the ends would drive me up a tree.
Click to expand...
They fit
 
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minik said:
I have the same thinking. Throughout the years, I have at least 15 bands. These days, none of the watch bands are my cup of tea. However I ended up to select the most expensive SB Link Bracelet since I don't have one and it seems to match the SB Ti. I meant Apple sells the Mac mini without keyboard and mouse, why not the Apple Watch in 2021.
Click to expand...
I have 76 bands already. Been buying since series 3. This time I got the leather link band as well.
 
I have an absolute pile of straps from S0 onwards, and would love to have bought an S7 without one. I've had 3x Silver SS watches in the past but this time went for Graphite SS with the matching milanese loop. My silver milanese was the only strap that wouldn't work with the graphite, so the graphite loop option made sense.

Incidently, was pleased that my classic buckles with the silver lugs looked "decent" with the graphite, not masively noticable as both have a polished look, but the contrast looks kinda cool.
 
I would love this option. Even if it was only like a 20 or 30 dollar discount. The last thing I need is another band (I say as i browse the internet for new bands. . .)

Seriously, I think it hit me hard this year when none of the new options really spoke to me.
 
I would be good with that - I have a drawer of unopened black sport bands - I can't bring myself to just toss them, but I am never going to wear a black silicon strap and I don't know anyone who does so I can't even give them away. I just returned a graphite 7 with a solo strap because I hated the strap, I don't really like any of their combos, and amazon had SS 45 with the off white strap for $719 and I figured I could save some money and not be upset about tossing another strap in the drawer of unused apple watch bands. Graphite was okay but I really like SS
 
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