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Can I exchange my damaged sport band with a new color?
- Thread starter Appl3FTW
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To borrow a piece of advice from a coworker:
"Go ahead and ask. What are they going to do? Tell you 'No'? They tell me 'No' all the time!"
"Go ahead and ask. What are they going to do? Tell you 'No'? They tell me 'No' all the time!"
I wonder though if Apple would let people with leather loops to exchange to the newer ones (not a new colour) that have the rubber gasket on the inside of the metal ring. Seeing as the change was made because they felt it was a design flaw without it.
Well, it's somewhat obvious if they made the effort to change it and not really tell anyone, that they felt it was flaw in the old non rubber gasket version. Why change it otherwise if it added no solution to anything. It's not for looks, you can barely see it, so it likely has an actual purpose that solves whatever issue from real world feedback they may have gotten.
It doesn't necessarily indicate a design flaw. They improve upon the small things in the next generation iDevices all the time. We still don't know what the gasket is for.
I have not seen it myself but wonder if it makes the band a little slower to move through the loop, easier to manage the process of putting it on without the loop slipping. Taking a guess to the purpose.
A watch band isn't an iDevice and the watch wasn't even updated, it's still the same generation watch. They changed the Classic Buckle band and highlighted that, but silently added the gasket to the Leather Loop.
You even think it's likely that it was added to fix an issue in another thread.
Logic would suggest it was to fix the clicking "phantom" taptics the Leather Loop is known for, and/or reduce wear on the leather rubbing on metal. If any of that was the case then yes, no gasket is a flaw.
*edit*
gsmornot makes another good possible reason. The leather loop does and can fully slide out of the ring pretty easily when putting it on and taking it off. The gasket could help hold it in place better. Which is fixing an issue and eliminating a flaw.
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That's my own unsubstantiated speculation. In the absence of some evidence pointing to a design flaw, I don't think anyone has any ground to force an exchange. Reducing wear wouldn't be considered a design flaw though, since leather bands can only last so long before needing to be replaced.
If the gasket was added to reduce wear though, that would indicate that without the gasket the metal ring makes it wear much quicker than what would be considered normal. Which would be a flaw. Quicker than normal wear = not doing what's intended. But more than normal wear is just one of many possibilities. Phantom taptics and also what gsmornot suggested is another very possible reason.
The fact it was a silent change points to fixing one or more issues.
Honestly, in Canada the SS with a Leather Loop is $919 dollars before tax and AppleCare+. If I had bought one a week before and they silently changed a portion of the band to presumably fix an issue, I would for sure ask for an exchange to a non flawed band. It's not like Apple holds events just for band fixes and someone could plan their purchase around that.
We can speculate all day long, but I haven't seen posts on the leather loop prematurely wearing out.
You're right it's just speculation. But Apple will never admit if the addition was to fix an error though. Wear was also just one of the possibilities. And I'm sure Apple get feedback by a lot of people that may never be brought up in a forum, because not everyone is vocal online. Or maybe their own internal testing revealed something the general public hasn't had long enough to encounter yet.
Personally I doubt it's a cosmetic change for something that almost no one would notice if it wasn't point out. I'm 99% confident it serves an actual purpose that they felt needed to be added to fix something.
Anyhoo, if it was me and spent $1000 shortly before such a modification was made to a band (not a new band, but an existing one changed to fix something) I would for sure ask for an exchange. This is all different to what the OP asks though. A new colour is a whole new band and isn't fixing anything.