Exactly the same experience. Had more than one jaw drop when I told them it cost less than $20. I just want a comfortable band that looks and feels nice. Mine more than meets that criteria.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The day Apple makes previous watch straps incompatible with future models
- Thread starter symphony
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Me too! I wouldn’t mind given Apple all my money again.
Hopefully they reset their colors and band types, I missed out on a lot of them.
Not changing the watch interface does constrain how Apple might evolve the case shape of the watch itself though, whether it constrains it enough to matter I have no idea; I don't know what sort of concepts Apple might have conidered and rejected due to those constraints. This is just an example not me suggesting it should happen but if for instance Apple felt that going with what is now the latest iPhone design language, i.e. square sides and flush screens, the radii of the corners would be constrained by the curvature of the lugs and I'm not sure whether the downward angle of the slots into the watch with the current mechanism might even make it difficult or impossible to get the sides square at all (again, just an example). I suspect there's probably a very well-used 3D printer somewhere in the Apple Watch R&D group playing with all sorts of ideas!
I agree that if Apple were to change bands I would like to see a better mechanism. Security (minimal danger of spontaneous detachment) would be critical but if that could be solved, presumably by a more solid latching mechanism, then personally if Apple were to change I would like to see the attachment move to a slot on the side where the lugs push into the watch (a bit like posting a letter into a letter box) as opposed to sliding in from the sides. That way the finish of the watch body would wrap around the sides and you wouldn't get the issue of the colour mismatches of the strap and the band at the sides. Some people like or at least don't mind mismatched lugs but it really bugs other people. You could still get mismatches on the bars on leather straps and on buckles but it would (in my opinion, I'm a hater of the side mismatches) make the sides of the watch look much cleaner.
I see zero reason apple changing the design to the point all bands won't fit. They can redesign the watch and still keep the existing watch band compatibility. I don't see this happening even with a redesign. You can redesign the watch and still keep current band comparability, I think the watch redesign will be similar to the current iPad Pro and iPad Air, I see a flatter design in the future with compatibility of the current watch bands.
Yes I agree, I think a flatter edge design, bezel-less screen, removal of crown and replaced by force buttons so no moving parts. It might be that older bands don't fit quite as flush, but fit nontheless.
All speculation of course.
Scenario B:
Apple retains the current square design with the same band port, however, they offer a round Apple Watch design (Along side the square design) that requires a different band for that specific form factor. Therefore, any consumers who want the round design, cannot cross use their bands for both watches, thus resulting in purchasing new bands for the circular Apple Watch. That is something that is very Apple-like I could see them doing.
Apple wouldn’t remove the crown yet. The crown is what makes the Watch a ‘Watch.’ Plus, it serves as the core function for menu navigation, scrolling, zoom, volume control, ect. If they were ever to remove the digital crown, they would have a viable alternative to control all the other functionality mentioned above.
My “collection” consists of a black sport band that I got from the apple store on launch day of the original watch. I got the basic sport watch that came with a white band, but I wanted the black one. Five years on, I’m still using that same exact band. I’ve been really impressed at how it’s held up over the years being worn every day!
I can’t say enough good things about the sport band. And the misconception is, a lot of people think it’s made of ‘rubber’, when it’s actually not using A Rubber composition, when it’s composed of fluoroelastomer. Extremely durable material, doesn’t physically breakdown, hold it’s shape without deteriorating or becoming ‘stretched’ out, No odors, and it’s even very difficult to stain. One of the best material choices Apple chose for the sport band was fluoroelastomer.
