Every Apple Watch band Apple released. Ever.

[MacDevil7334]

Is it just the SB milanese loop that can scratch the sapphire glass display or can the silver milanese loop also do that?

I believe it’s just the space black. Though, the jury is still out on whether the new Graphite Milanese will also be a scratch risk. The Graphite watch is DLC coated but Apple’s site says the band is PVD coated. So it’s possible it won’t scratch the screen like the space black did. But we won’t know for sure until some YouTuber does some tests.

In any case, the silver Milanese should be fine.

 

[jeremyfernie]

from pics of the Obsidian Mist band, I don't think I'll get it. originally I wanted it, but it doesn't look much different from PP/B.

I beg to differ, respectfully! If you like neutrals / grayscale options, I’d say it’s a must. If you don’t find purple pulse to be too similar to Hyper Grape (SL), I’d say this is equally different from PP/B.

 

[deuxani]

View attachment 956572

That gap on the sides is just terrible quality control by Apple. Unacceptable for such an expensive band.

 

[the future]

That gap on the sides is just terrible quality control by Apple. Unacceptable for such an expensive band.

Poor quality control would mean that many bands produced turn out worse than intended. This is not the case as all Braided Solo Loops are this way. So you could call it a poor design, but it has nothing to do with quality control.

Btw I was briefly in an Apple store today and to me, the gap is not a big issue as it is (as usual) less visible/pronounced IRL vs. blown-up pictures. Also, the regular Solo Loops are insanely comfortable if you find the right size.

 

[Nancy&co]

That gap on the sides is just terrible quality control by Apple. Unacceptable for such an expensive band.

I tried one of those bands at the weekend at my local Apple store and the ends were actually bulging out each side which looked even worse, not sure what Apple was thinking when they made these.

 

[Dino F]

So as @mikedop, @athousandbands, @toxtrepla and @Martinpa know I've been away from the forums for a bit as I've been recovering from a slew of new injuries after being hit by a 14 year on a moped about two weeks ago on September 5th. This is just not my year. But for my fellow MOTs, Shana tovah! Hopefully 5781 brings us only good things!


I sent my best attempts already, but for anyone else curious here are some shots. I didn't handle the blue or red aluminums myself and didn't take off my ceramic for the shots, so @mikedop gave me a 1/5 rating when I sent him the pics over iMessage:
View attachment 956557View attachment 956559View attachment 956560



As I told @mikedop, I love how soft and the light solo loops are, but this is a good point in terms of pricing and makes me think Apple is aiming to increase their profit margins even further on these new bands.
View attachment 956563 View attachment 956564View attachment 956571


I would go one to two sizes smaller on the solo and braided solo loops. I was a 6 when measuring at home and a 5-6 in the store but when I tried both on they were too big for my taste, so I went with a 4 and if a 3 came in 44mm I would have even done that for the braided (the solo loops run a bit tighter). Also @Cotypubby, I'm also (back) in NYC and was able to walk into Apple Stores twice this weekend without a reservation. Both times they asked if I had one and I said no and they asked what I was there for and I said to buy bands and they just let me in.

As a complete aside, I really love the braided nylons. I thought the price was a lot but I bought charcoal Friday and didn't change it for 24 hours which is unheard of for me. It's just that comfortable. Went back and tried to buy blue, green and pink today and the former two were out of stock. The Apple Store employee said the braided loops are going crazy fast, so I guess the pricing isn't deterring people. There were no demo leather links so I couldn't try one on for curiosity's sake.
View attachment 956572View attachment 956573View attachment 956577

...as others have posted, what on earth is going on with those gaps????

...the band/watch looks defective (I certainly would not purchase either if that's how its gonna look) ?!

 

[MacDevil7334]

Welp, you all tried to warn me about the SB Milanese and I didn’t listen. Wasn’t paying close enough attention while attaching the band this morning and a small part came in contact with the side of the watch and the screen. Luckily no scratches to the sapphire but it did leave a few small micro scratches in the SB coating on the watch near the bottom band connector. The scratches are really small and only noticeable if you are in the exact right light and really looking for them. But, they’re there 😕

Now I have to decide if I am going to live with the risk or return the band. I wish I hadn’t fallen so in love with it. The ML is easily the best combination of style and comfort of any band I have ever had and I hate to give that up. I do have AC+ on the watch. Does anyone know if Apple would allow for a damage replacement down the line if the watch got really scratched up?

 

[deuxani]

Poor quality control would mean that many bands produced turn out worse than intended. This is not the case as all Braided Solo Loops are this way. So you could call it a poor design, but it has nothing to do with quality control.

Btw I was briefly in an Apple store today and to me, the gap is not a big issue as it is (as usual) less visible/pronounced IRL vs. blown-up pictures. Also, the regular Solo Loops are insanely comfortable if you find the right size.

It is bad quality control as according to Apple's product images, by design, it should look like this:

So yes, the band should fill the gap perfectly by design. If it was a €15 knock off I could live with it, but the gaps on the sides are unacceptable at €100. Bad quality. It's best to wait a little till these bands are how they are supposed to be, especially as you mentioned all of them are this way. While every other band in the past always filled the hole perfectly in line with the case (even cheap knock offs).

 

[ryuworks]

Definitely bad QC, as evident from the many sport bands this season that won't even fit. Likely Apple onboarded a new supplier/contractor and this first batch of bands are just bad. The question is whether they will be fixed within this season, or do we have to wait until the next.

 

[mikedis]

Do your guys’ defected loops still say made in China? Or are they made in Vietnam now?

 

[the future]

It is bad quality control as according to Apple's product images, by design, it should look like this:

View attachment 956761

So yes, the band should fill the gap perfectly by design. If it was a €15 knock off I could live with it, but the gaps on the sides are unacceptable at €100. Bad quality. It's best to wait a little till these bands are how they are supposed to be, especially as you mentioned all of them are this way. While every other band in the past always filled the hole perfectly in line with the case (even cheap knock offs).

This is false advertising, then.

I still would say quality control is the wrong term as it implies that a certain percentage of a production batch is unfit for sale while the rest is fine. In this case it would be a 100% failure rate, which renders the term absurd. Hence I would rather call it a poor design.

You can wait, of course, but I don‘t think they will ever look like they do in the marketing pictures. If it is considered unacceptable, vote with your wallet and don‘t buy them. I‘m on the fence myself as I like the look and feel of them, but the price and the gap are certainly hard to swallow.

 

[kcmo]

Take care of yourself Pitch, and Shana Tova to you! Hoping for a much better year on my end as well!

 

[nicho]

...as others have posted, what on earth is going on with those gaps????


View attachment 956742


...the band/watch looks defective (I certainly would not purchase either if that's how its gonna look) ?!

Looks to me like it could be a case of upside-down-band-itis?

 

[twanj]

Jeez @Pitch you deserve some recovery & injury free time! I hope people are more careful around you.

 

[Pascal70]

Saw a photo earlier in the thread where ginger looked very similar to pollen. It had that same warm undertone.

You mean ginger looks similar to canary... not pollen really.

 

[Cotypubby]

Take care @Pitch! What a rough year it’s been for you!
Thanks for letting me know about the Apple Store. I’ll stop by next weekend and check them out. The braided loops look great except those gaps would bother me so much. 😕

 

[nattK]

Do your guys’ defected loops still say made in China? Or are they made in Vietnam now?

Great point. It'll be interesting to know whether the defective sport bands and braided loop are manufactured in a different country. I wonder whether it's an issue with a factory's QC or the manufacturing process itself.

 

[twanj]

I've got a slot to check out new bands at the Boca (🤮) Apple store today at 4pm.

Any requests? I'll prolly forget, but...

 

[mikedis]

I've got a slot to check out new bands at the Boca (🤮) Apple store today at 4pm.

Any requests? I'll prolly forget, but...

I don’t think I’ve seen any leather link pics that aren’t of the prototypes.

 

[ivantheipodder]

I've got a slot to check out new bands at the Boca (🤮) Apple store today at 4pm.

Any requests? I'll prolly forget, but...

Might be off topic but could we get a look on the new gold aluminium and gold SS colours and see how/if they are different from the S5 respective models? I could find like one or two videos online on the gold SS but none on the gold aluminum. Trying to see if they are less pink/rose gold than before?

 

[ryuworks]

Might be off topic but could we get a look on the new gold aluminium and gold SS colours and see how/if they are different from the S5 respective models? I could find like one or two videos online on the gold SS but none on the gold aluminum. Trying to see if they are less pink/rose gold than before?

I don't think there's any change to the Aluminum's shade of gold. But I might be wrong.

 

[deuxani]

This is false advertising, then.

I still would say quality control is the wrong term as it implies that a certain percentage of a production batch is unfit for sale while the rest is fine. In this case it would be a 100% failure rate, which renders the term absurd. Hence I would rather call it a poor design.

You can wait, of course, but I don‘t think they will ever look like they do in the marketing pictures. If it is considered unacceptable, vote with your wallet and don‘t buy them. I‘m on the fence myself as I like the look and feel of them, but the price and the gap are certainly hard to swallow.

I just think it’s a bad batch and it will sort itself out in the coming weeks. All bands are always perfectly aligned with the case, they always have been.

Could this maybe be an issue for a specific model? Like just the 44mm? Does anyone with a 40mm model have a braided loop yet?

 

[tuanlouis]

Not only braided loop but the solo band also shows the lug gap?!

 

[JBlass421]

Welp, you all tried to warn me about the SB Milanese and I didn’t listen. Wasn’t paying close enough attention while attaching the band this morning and a small part came in contact with the side of the watch and the screen. Luckily no scratches to the sapphire but it did leave a few small micro scratches in the SB coating on the watch near the bottom band connector. The scratches are really small and only noticeable if you are in the exact right light and really looking for them. But, they’re there

Now I have to decide if I am going to live with the risk or return the band. I wish I hadn’t fallen so in love with it. The ML is easily the best combination of style and comfort of any band I have ever had and I hate to give that up. I do have AC+ on the watch. Does anyone know if Apple would allow for a damage replacement down the line if the watch got really scratched up?

I tried to warn you. I had that same combo as yours and it scratched my watch. Plus all the other stuff like loosening and leaving marks on my wrist I just gave up on that band. Beautiful band but just a no go for me personally. I don’t own that particular watch anymore and definitely will not be buying anymore Milanese. No Apple will not switch out your watch for scratches. If that was the case so many OCD people would be abusing that system lol

 

[the future]

Not only braided loop but the solo band also shows the lug gap?!

That looks like a 40 mm band on a 44 mm Watch.

FWIW we‘ve seen many pictures/videos with perfectly aligned Solo Loops and not one picture/video with a perfectly aligned Braided Solo Loop.