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New Apple Watch Bands Now Available for Personal Pickup
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I actually could use one of those.How about some iPod socks for your sarcasm?
Every time I call my wife, I have to wait for her to find her phone and then call me back. She can never dig through her purse and find the phone before 4 rings.
I have the Apple Watch, and have had almost one year. Wear and enjoy it every day. I also have 6 different bands for it, and just bought one of the new nylon bands.
Reliability in the face of wear and tear isn't necessarily a metric of whether a product is poorly made or not. The design parameters of the product may have intentionally eschewed some use cases in order to achieve another goal (such as aesthetic).
For instance, some would consider an iPhone to be extremely well made if it were the size of a standard building brick, because it could therefore be made very rugged and physically reliable in a rough usage case. In a similar way, some might consider a Panasonic Toughbook to be well made and a MacBook Pro to be poorly made. Conversely, some might consider the metal construction of the MBP to be superior to the plastic of a Panasonic.
Apple's longer accessory Lightning cable is physically heavier and more durable than the one packed with iPhones. Maybe it's intended for people who are more physically demanding of their cables, and it's not really fair to call the cables poorly made when an alternative is presented for people who need it. Then again, I'm probably wasting my time trying to explain this to you.
I'm still using almost exclusively the Lightning charging cable that came with my launch-day iPhone 5, for both my current iPhones and iPads. Seeing how many people have cable problems, I must have just gotten the "good one".
How about some iPod socks for your sarcasm?
Apple charged $29 for all six of those.... and now $50 for just one stinkin piece of rubber.
Let that roll around your head for a while.
Agreed. I have the black nylon with the gray sports watch as well. I've loved my first few days with it. It's a very versatile style. Wore it with a suit to dinner and it fit right in to the occasion. Looks just as good/normal with a tshirt. Don't plan on using it at the gym, but might ride my bike to work with it on.
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For those interested in seeing the black nylon in natural light.
Attachments
It's like a spelunking expedition in there to find my iPhone 6S Plus and that thing is huge! I'm not even the kind of person to carry a lot of garbage. I clean my purses out regularly but I'm a mom and I'll be out somewhere and the inevitable stuff happens with the kids and next thing you know I'm asked to stuff a soggy sock ball wrapped in a scarf into my purse...Don't ask. You don't want to know.
I think the weirdest thing I had to carry in my purse was a betta fish in a cup and a goldfish in a bag. Don't worry, both went on to live long happy lives in proper living conditions.
I am not just a mother and a wife, I'm the family pack mule. Lazy! Indeed!
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When I run into a fellow Apple Watch owner we run our mouths a mile a minute about how it changed our lives or saved us some grief.
With people who don't own one, I'm much more reserved in my comments because most have this attitude or stink eye look at it when they ask me about it. I can see their minds are already made up that I'm some whack job that likes to throw my money away on junk. So I just say something to politely deflect the conversation elsewhere.
If the person is already wearing a Pebble or a Fitbit I am even more self deprecating because they tend to preemptively tell me how superior their device is and they didn't have to spend a fortune on it, while casting odd looks at my Apple Watch that could be envy or derision. I'm an easygoing person and I'm not going to get in a peeing contest about whose smart watch is better or try to impress anyone with it. I'm so happy with it that I got two, and that's all that matters to me. Other people can do their own research and decide in their own what best suits them.
And it is "OK". It can fade into the background of your life and be taken for granted. Which is a good thing. Fiddly fussy things that demand attention can become wearying when they are on your wrist all day.
The people crapping on the Apple Watch would probably ragged on the Iphone in 2007, the first 6 months sales were rather low. For some reason, John Oliver has made it his mission to bash the watch gratuitously (twice already) like people were buying it to be cool, hip or whatever... Most people who buy this watch don;t really need to it to be "cool", they're not 15; though they probably use it to do cool stuff like not having to hunt down their phone 100 times a day (that's pretty "uncool" ;-). I like John Oliver in general, but he often comes off a big smug and ill informed on societal trends.
Thanks for the picture. Nice to see it in a normal setting. The promotional pictures are very nice but this is interesting to see.
As I mentioned in an earlier post I kind of wish I'd got the aluminium sports to make it more versatile for different bands. This looks good though.
Yes, I've never understood it either. You can go into any good quality non-discount jewelry store, the kind that isn't shy about charging full price and then some, and buy a nice leather watch band for $50.
But these plastic and nylon AW bands are more of a ladies fashion accessorizing thing than a replacement band which is why guys "don't get it." It's also why the new $50 bands are feminine or adolescent which is the target demos here. It's really no different from how guys might want the M sport trim upgrade on their new 3 series. A lot of women wouldn't understand why a guy would pay extra for a stiffer suspension, a more aggressive front air dam & and larger wheels.
You can't justify the price of the AW bands or BMW's M sport pkg. They are impulse buys -- rarely defendable except it makes the buyer happy, maybe for a moment, maybe something they enjoy a long time. If I'm not spending the money it's not my judgment to make.
Mars and Venus.
Best Apple product ever.How about some iPod socks for your sarcasm?
Still using mine 11 years down the line but I seem to have misplaced the green one.
wrong. More like QUALITY WHORES.
Sure you can buy 3rd party rubber Apple Watch bands for $10. But they are crap. Just read the reviews on Amazon. The adapters don't fit properly or get stuck. This caused damage to the Watch case. Others report the rubber turning stiff or fading in color. Or the connector is unsecure and people have damaged their watch from the band falling off.
I've been searching high and low for quality 3rd party bands. After MONTHS the conclusion is you won't find a band with equal quality and fit as the Apple bands for a cheaper price. There are cheaper 3rd party bands but the quality is just not their.
Trust me I don't like wasting money. But the quality in the Apple bands are unmatched at this point.
Don't trust me? Go find me a sport band for less than $50 that beats the Apple band.
Go find me a leather band and link band while you are at it also.
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Show me a nice leather 3rd party Apple Watch band for $50 that matches Apple's leather band in quality and fit.....
I'll be waiting. There isn't one. I checked everywhere and all the 3rd party bands less than $100 are not the same quality.
By the way Rolex leather bands retail for $300.
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If everyone only bought products that had RAZOR THIN PROFIT MARGINS than our economy would be total crap. You want to go back to life in 1890? Where people barely had anything beyond the BARE NECESSITIES?
[doublepost=1459179583][/doublepost]Here are some reviews from the top ranked 3rd Party Sport band from Amazon. It goes for $10.
"Horrible quality straps, I've only had them 2 days and they are peeling in patches and have spots of weird uneven texture. Like lots of the other reviews say, they attract dust like crazy. They are also a little hard to get on and off."
"I asked for a replacement for a smaller band and as soon as I started using it in a matter of minutes it started peeling off."
"Band is in great condition but the bottom band would not lock into place."
"Metal fastener arrived in pieces.... UNWEARABLE.
""The band peels after just a few wears. (Had the band for less than a month)"
"within the first 24 hours the strap started to wear and the plastic top layer started peeling where it comes into contact with my desk. It also generates a lot of static. It's noticeably inferior to the apple one that came with the watch."
"terrible quality, everything sticks to it and its constantly needing to be cleaned. nothing like the apple original band"
"The quality of this band is what you would expect for $10. The comfort and smoothness of Apple's product is missing from this. Lint loves to attach itself so I spend the day making sure it's clean."
"Color don't look the same as actual item I received the band was a light Grey didn't seem like the fog color picture."
"This band would not lock into place and had to be returned the day it arrived. I also did not care for the embossing. Be careful, without the band locking, your watch could fall off and break or be lost."
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i truly mean never. i have tried plenty too and i have been scrummaging the macrumors watch forums for what other people feel. they never are.
the closest are the plastic ones and even then discoloring and a thinner material is what you'd get.
exactly. I've been hunting for MONTHS looking for a high quality 3rd party metal band. Nothing. Even the bands that cost more than $100 pale in comparison to the Apple bands. They are littered with problems:
Metal chips off
Links are different color
Links have gaps in them
Very hard to slide band into case
Metal is easily tarnished
Very hard to put on and remove band
Metal is more filmsy
$50 sounds like a lot for a plastic band. But the sport bands are incredible quality and craftsmanship. Same with the leather bands and metal bands. These are Rolex level quality fit and finish.
Don't be a troll. I didn't say you could buy a nice leather AW band for $50. Frankly, I don't know if you can or not, I've never looked. But guessing they probably do exist.
What I did say... my words, actual words, not the ones your mind inserted in your head, were that you could buy a nice leather watch band for $50. Got that? I wrote "watch band," not "Apple Watch band."
Now how do I know you can buy I nice leather band for $50 because I have to buy one every few years for my Baume Mercier. I use to buy the OEM BM band, but those are $125 for my watch style, and quite frankly apart from the "Baume & Mercier stamp on the back I can find no difference. They certainly look, feel, and wear the same.
By the way what do Rolex bands have to do with anything here? An Apple Watch is in no way equal to a Rolex no matter how much Jonny Ive's ego wants to make it so. Many times, yes, you get what you pay for. But sometimes, things are just plain overpriced and its not a statement of quality, just a mark for suckers.
Please show me a link of a nice leather band for $50.
You say you need to replace your 'nice' leather band every few years. That alone tells me it isn't good quality like the Apple Watch leather bands.
My current band is by Hadley Roma. LINK.
Here is a video on how they are made:
It absolutely no different in feel, look, or wear life than my original Baume Mercier band or any of the "genuine" BM replacements I've bought. For all I know they make them for Baume Mercier.
And again, Apple's obnoxious price does not mean it is superior in quality. AFAIC it's just overpriced. It's clearly something for Apple execs to laugh about over a beer.
Oh, BTW my $50 band is made in the U.S., unlike Apple's China made band.
The link you posted does not work....so. Not sure what that says about the quality of the product.
Here are some reviews I read about these bands on Amazon:
"However after nine months of daily wear, the leather is cracked nearly all the way through where the buckle attaches to the hole in the strap."
"The finish flaked off within a week"
"I don't mind paying more for high quality but this was an absolute abomination."
"However the thickness issue did become a problem almost immediately. Within one day the clasp side of the wristband began rubbing against the watch to the point where the brown dyed leather was worn away exposing and continuing to wear away the leather itself. "
"This is the weakest point of the strap, and the seams on mine ended up coming a part a year after owning the watch."
Does not sound like a high quality watch band. Its does confirm your mention that you need to replace these often.
Also don't forget the AppleWatches come with the quick adapters which allow you to switch bands quickly and safely. Those cost money. Many of the 3rd party bands use fake adapters which are hard to remove and can even damage the watch case.
Again you said Apple is charging OBNOXIOUS prices on their bands. If that's true you should be able to find me 3rd party bands that are THE SAME QUALITY or BETTER QUALITY than Apple Watch bands for a much cheaper price.
Go ahead find me those 3rd party bands that are just as good quality but cheaper?
Find me that then we can say Apple is charging obnoxious prices. And don't be showing me bands from traditional watches. That's a different argument.
I hope you can prove me wrong and find me some nice 3rd party bands that match the quality of Apple's bands. I'd love to buy them. But I've been HUNTING for quality 3rd party bands for the last 3 months and NONE OF THEM MATCH THE QUALITY OF APPLE'S BANDS. NONE OF THEM. PERIOD.
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OK. You are entitled to your opinion. Obviously I disagree.
Leather bands dry up and crack, especially at the buckle crease. It's true. It's why I have to replace mine... even the vastly more expensive Baume Mercier bands. The more one perspires the quicker this process occurs. It has zero to do with quality. Even a Rolex OEM would do that if it's real leather.
With all this my original point has been lost, and that is $250 for a leather band is overpriced. Period. It's a tiny strip of leather. Leather is not a scarce resource, especially the leather used for watch bands which has to be tougher to withstand the daily bending. The most expensive leather is very thin, soft, and supple and could not tolerate the conditions a band undertakes.
Take a look at an high end leather jacket. It's very thin an fragile compared to a run-of-the mill brands which is typically thick and durable. Same goes with car seats. The entry level "dakota" and "nevada" leather seats on a BMW for example, is very stiff vs. the high end "nappa" leather. The nappa seats look and feel amazing but the dakota and nevada holds up best over time because it's a rougher leather.
That's leather in a nutshell. If you want to believe everything Apple makes is top quality go ahead but I bet if you go into the iPad accessories forum you could find lots of people complaining how their leather iPad cases fell apart on them. An Apple stamp on accessories is usually just that.
Maybe because design has a cost?
Maybe because it's not pure rubber because they dn't attrack dust nor dirt and seem like new no matter how much time and dirt passes through them?
Why are people willing to pay $50 for a pair of jeans? The pure material costs less than 5 dollars. OMG.
Why are people willing to pay $40 for a dish? It's components cost mere 10 dollars. OMG...
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And so what? I dont' care what do you think about what I do.
There is a difference between lazyness and convinience.
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And here is the thing. You can't feel the difference between the original band and the third party band you are buying now. On the other side, there is a big difference between the OEM and third party apple watch bands. There are lots of example and everybody knows the quality is subpar. So what's the problem?
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