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No more SS with Sport band?

virginblue4

virginblue4

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 15, 2012
2,031
718
United Kingdom
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned this, but it seems that Apple no longer sell the standard SS model with a sport band, they now only offer the space black SS model with a sport band. The sport band has been replaced by the nylon strap.

Seems strange.
 
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Well, this is not surprising as it's impractical for Apple to stock all of them as out-of-the-box models, given that Apple now has the Sport bands in 21 colors, Woven Nylon in 7 colors, and Classic Buckle in 9 colors. Even if they stock the standard SS with the Sport band in a few selected colors, people will still bitch that they can't get them in the remaining colors as models.
 
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Oddly enough, even though I got the steel Watch because it would be more versatile with more bands, I've started wearing it on rubber nearly all of the time. Now I kind of wish I had the space black version in the first place. Go figure.
 
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virginblue4 said:
Considering the SS model with white sport band was the main SS watch shown in promotional videos and the model Tim Cook wore etc, it just seems strange to discontinue it.
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It's a used tire by now. But they haven't really discontinued it as the white Sport band can still be purchased for $49.

Same thing with the Product Red Sport band. I'm sure someone will start a thread screaming bloody murder that they've "discontinued" that model despite it still being available to purchase separately.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
It's a used tire by now. But they haven't really discontinued it as the white Sport band can still be purchased for $49.

Same thing with the Product Red Sport band. I'm sure someone will start a thread screaming bloody murder that they've "discontinued" that model despite it still being available to purchase separately.
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Yes, they have discontinued it as a package. I never said they discontinued the actual sport band itself.
 
virginblue4 said:
Yes, they have discontinued it as a package. I never said they discontinued the actual sport band itself.
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At least those who want the Sport band don't have it as bad as those who wish they could get the significantly more expensive Classic and Modern Buckles in one of the unavailable colors as models. They have to shell out $149 and $249, respectively, for these compared to only $49.
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Seamaster said:
That combination was discontinued several months ago. We were discussing it in December.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ss-with-black-sport-band.1947199/
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That's only for the black Sport band. The OP is talking about the standard SS now being unavailable with the Sport band in any of the colors.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
At least those who want the Sport band don't have it as bad as those who wish they could get the significantly more expensive Classic and Modern Buckles in one of the unavailable colors as models. They have to shell out $149 and $249, respectively, for these compared to only $49.
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Yes, I agree that's a worse situation!
 
virginblue4 said:
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned this, but it seems that Apple no longer sell the standard SS model with a sport band, they now only offer the space black SS model with a sport band. The sport band has been replaced by the nylon strap.

Seems strange.
Click to expand...

Apple's typical Dick move:

"Oh you want Space Black? only available with Link Bracelet. $1000.00 Please"

...few months later

"Oh hey, want a Space Black for $599 with Sport band?...oh, you bought the SS for the same price before because you didn't want to spend $1000?...oops!"

....now

"Oh you want SS with Sport band? No problem! buy SS with Nylon for $599 and then spend another $50 for a Sport band!"

:mad:

So infuriating. I'm still pissed off about the Space Black + Black Sport band combo. That's what I wanted from the start.

What's next? They are going to sell the SS watch without a band for $599?
 
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[EDIT]
Never mind. Thought I was reading typical hair-trigger idiocy.

So I decided to add to it myself. ;-p

[/EDIT]

Wtf.

Scroll right.

Guys:
d82dd8fd1f1078d18eb736390df87550.jpg
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
Getting the SS case only for $499 and $549 (for 38mm and 42mm, respectively) would actually be quite a few members' dream come true.
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I could see this for the AW2 and above, but no reason for buying more of the same model unless you're a cheapskate and don't want more than one set of bands.
 
Armen said:
Apple's typical Dick move:

"Oh you want Space Black? only available with Link Bracelet. $1000.00 Please"

...few months later

"Oh hey, want a Space Black for $599 with Sport band?...oh, you bought the SS for the same price before because you didn't want to spend $1000?...oops!"

....now

"Oh you want SS with Sport band? No problem! buy SS with Nylon for $599 and then spend another $50 for a Sport band!"

:mad:

So infuriating. I'm still pissed off about the Space Black + Black Sport band combo. That's what I wanted from the start.

What's next? They are going to sell the SS watch without a band for $599?
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Business and marketing plans evolve. They tried something, found it was not working as well as they hoped and changed it up to try something else?

Do you complain when a restaurant changes up their menu?
 
MartyCan said:
Business and marketing plans evolve. They tried something, found it was not working as well as they hoped and changed it up to try something else?

Do you complain when a restaurant changes up their menu?
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Marketing plan or not it's still a dick move and I'm not the only one who feels that way.
 
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MartyCan said:
Business and marketing plans evolve. They tried something, found it was not working as well as they hoped and changed it up to try something else?
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I seriously doubt initially offering the Space Black only with the link bracelet then expanding it to include the Sport band is an example of their original plan not working as well as they hoped. More likely they wanted make the Space Black as exclusive as possible at first and force people to get the link bracelet if they wanted the Space Black badly enough as a means of upselling.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
I seriously doubt initially offering the Space Black only with the link bracelet then expanding it to include the Sport band is an example of their original plan not working as well as they hoped. More likely they wanted make the Space Black as exclusive as possible at first and force people to get the link bracelet if they wanted the Space Black badly enough as a means of upselling.
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No doubt. But that is a marketing plan and if it didn't work they can decide to change it.
 
MartyCan said:
No doubt. But that is a marketing plan and if it didn't work they can decide to change it.
Click to expand...

I agree it's marketing, but I'd argue their plan did work because they upsold the link bracelet to many people who wanted the Space Black badly enough but would have been perfectly content with a cheaper band. Now that they won them over, they added the black sport band to take advantage of the untapped market that was too cheap to even consider (or could not afford) the link bracket. It was most likely a deliberate plan all along, rather than an example of something not working and trying something else.
 
I don't think limiting the space black to just the link bracelet at first had anything to do with marketing. I think it had more to do with Apple needing time to master the DLC process. Remember that the space black was heavily delayed, to the point that it was one of the last combinations to ship. And even after it did ship supplies were heavily constrained at first, and many people had issues with the coating wearing off on that first batch. Seems pretty clear to me that Apple felt they wouldn't have been able to handle the demand if they had offered the space black/sport band combo from the outset. I probably would have bought that combo myself, but I'm happy to have the stainless in the end. I think the combo of stainless watch with a black band, be it sport, leather, or milanese looks pretty nice, better than black on black honestly.
 
parseckadet said:
I don't think limiting the space black to just the link bracelet at first had anything to do with marketing. I think it had more to do with Apple needing time to master the DLC process. Remember that the space black was heavily delayed, to the point that it was one of the last combinations to ship. And even after it did ship supplies were heavily constrained at first, and many people had issues with the coating wearing off on that first batch. Seems pretty clear to me that Apple felt they wouldn't have been able to handle the demand if they had offered the space black/sport band combo from the outset. I probably would have bought that combo myself, but I'm happy to have the stainless in the end. I think the combo of stainless watch with a black band, be it sport, leather, or milanese looks pretty nice, better than black on black honestly.
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When the pre-orders went up the SB was listed with the link bracelet only. If Apple was having trouble with that model they could have simply put "Available Soon" under the description. Had I known the SB would be sold months later with the sport band I would have waited instead of getting the SS with Sport band.
 
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