Third-Party Apple Watch Bands May Be Coming Soon Following Launch of New Guidelines

[citi]

Again, I'm glad you got lucky. But advising people to just buy any old thing off the internet because it's "all from China" is not good advice.

I'm not advising anyone, just stating an alternative opinion. People are free to buy what they want.

 

[zmunkz]

I don't see this having nearly as much potential as Click...

 

[federico0212]

Just like how Apple charges $350+ for an $89 watch, I cannot belive they have the nerve to charge $50+ for a 10 cent plastic band.

I like how you actually believe it costs $89.

Sure it costs that much in parts, the same way a $20k car costs about $11000 to build.
But do you know the insane amount of engineering behind? In a car, the factory, all the testing, design, etc.

Here on the watch, writing an entirely new OS, CREATING THE ABSOLUTELY TINY S1 chip which is an insane feat, an A5 chip with all other parts in one tiny square, the almost impossible to curve sapphire machines they now own, the amount of testing and marketing, the training, dude, this goes well above $89 bucks.
There's a whole lot more value than parts in new products.
Apple didn't spend the last 4 years building 89 dollar watches and it's now selling them to get them back.

 

[Rogifan]

Just like how Apple charges $350+ for an $89 watch, I cannot belive they have the nerve to charge $50+ for a 10 cent plastic band.

10 cent plastic band based on???

 

[mcdj]

I'm sure the 10,000 Alibaba band sellers are all taking detailed notes.

 

[jamescobalt]

I'm glad you got lucky. But advising people to just buy any old thing off the internet because it's "all from China" is not good advice.

I think the poster was just pointing out that saying it's bad because it's from China isn't a valid argument anymore because the nice stuff comes from there too. Though there is something to be said for saying it's probably not nice because it's cheap, which is a different and more racially sensitive argument. You CAN get lucky but generally I think you get what you pay for.

My last iPhone case was $80. My current one was $12. Durability and design wise, it's equivalent. But my cheap import case had a poorly placed and overly strong magnetic closure that ended up scrambling all my credit cards... twice (it took me a while to make the connection between my cards going bad and the location of the magnet). After all the hassle (like not having a single working credit card at a gas station), it would have been better to get the expensive case. 🙄

 

[jdechko]

I like how you actually believe it costs $89.

Sure it costs that much in parts, the same way a $20k car costs about $11000 to build.
But do you know the insane amount of engineering behind? In a car, the factory, all the testing, design, etc.

Here on the watch, writing an entirely new OS, CREATING THE ABSOLUTELY TINY S1 chip which is an insane feat, an A5 chip with all other parts in one tiny square, the almost impossible to curve sapphire machines they now own, the amount of testing and marketing, the training, dude, this goes well above $89 bucks.
There's a whole lot more value than parts in new products.
Apple didn't spend the last 4 years building 89 dollar watches and it's now selling them to get them back.

Thanks for posting this and saving me the trouble. 🙂

Anyway, I think it will be interesting to see what comes out of these 3rd-party bands. I really like NATO-type straps, and I think there are going to be some really nice looking ones soon.

42mm Stainless w/ 3rd party NATO band would be pretty tempting. (I'm trying to resist as it is).

 

[cambookpro]

I think you are just fine. Generally, it is hard to match Apple quality and price. I think iPhone leather cases are reasonably priced considering the quality.

I really can't agree with this. My red leather iPhone Apple case discoloured along the front edges and corners within a week on me owning it. It looked awful.

I now have a third party red leather slip pouch and it looks fine. It's darkened, by evenly over time. Looks 10x better than the Apple one and was £10 less.

 

[OtherJesus]

I wonder what samsungs Apple Watch band will look like.

 

[Col4bin]

I think this program is great for providing more options and allowing more personalization. I fear though it could turn into flooding the market with cheap straps. Straps that will look nice in pictures and people will be drawn to them because they're cheap (price) and then soon find out they're also cheap in every other way.

Why fear a flooded strap market? Apple Watch consumers will have the same choices for their watch as they do today with their iPhone, iPod and iPad covers and cases. It's just up to the consumer to decide their price point and assume any risk when purchasing a cheap band. Really, while the Apple Watch might be new to market, it's not as if it's any more special than those other three products or should warrant any other special consideration.

 

[Ubuntu]

I like how you actually believe it costs $89.

Sure it costs that much in parts, the same way a $20k car costs about $11000 to build.
But do you know the insane amount of engineering behind? In a car, the factory, all the testing, design, etc.

Here on the watch, writing an entirely new OS, CREATING THE ABSOLUTELY TINY S1 chip which is an insane feat, an A5 chip with all other parts in one tiny square, the almost impossible to curve sapphire machines they now own, the amount of testing and marketing, the training, dude, this goes well above $89 bucks.
There's a whole lot more value than parts in new products.
Apple didn't spend the last 4 years building 89 dollar watches and it's now selling them to get them back.

Such common sense and rational thinking is simply not welcome here. 😛

 

[576316]

I wonder how much control Apple actually have over 3rd party accessories. I mean, sure, I guess if they interact with the product in a digital way they could block that connection. But I can't see them being able to police something like a case or a band. With the cheapo accessories you can get from Hong Kong and China on eBay, there's no way Apple can control what they do cause the manufacturers will do what they like ultimately.

I guess Apple could threaten to sue them.

 

[IKAR0S]

Screen dimensions

Looking at the specs sheet ... Interesting to see that the larger watch has almost exactly the same screen size as the smaller one, and smaller black borders too! 😀

 

[iConnected]

it's likely the first official third-party bands could be seen in the coming months.

A good article let down by the last sentence.

It's "likely" third party bands "could be" seen?
More like an absolute certainty that they will be!

 

[nikaru]

This is non-sense. You have to buy the more expensive apple watch and the more expensive band just to have this small piece of metal that allows you to attach most of the off the shelf bands made for other watches to your apple watch. This guys is a pure "genious".

In one month this small piece of metal (the pin component) will be on ebay for 99 cents (shipping included) and you will have the freedome to use any band on your apple watch.

 

[antonis]

So the iWatch is moving towards to become the most upgradeable apple product ? Nice... 🙄

 

[mark-in-mk]

I really can't agree with this. My red leather iPhone Apple case discoloured along the front edges and corners within a week on me owning it. It looked awful.

I now have a third party red leather slip pouch and it looks fine. It's darkened, by evenly over time. Looks 10x better than the Apple one and was £10 less.

I hope you took / sent that case back like I did. They were awful.

 

[alphaod]

This is good. Always open to choice.

 

[unlinked]

Here on the watch, writing an entirely new OS

I would be surprised if anyone has written an entirely new OS in decades.

 

[VintageAmerican]

It's nice that you got lucky, but no. There really are some amazingly awful cases out there.

My friend got a $10 iPhone 6 case that looks a lot like my Spigen case but his wobbles and shifts around like they never actually had an iPhone 6 before making it. There's enough of a gap to slip a penny in. The front edges stick out unevenly so you can tell which side of the phone you're touching based on exactly how much the case is raised from the screen. I could honestly have made a better case with Saran Wrap and scotch tape.

Again, I'm glad you got lucky. But advising people to just buy any old thing off the internet because it's "all from China" is not good advice.

I only use otter box cases because they stick up
Above the surface of my phone or tablet. If dropped it has less chance of breaking the screen. I don't know how Samsun's edge can protect its edge since it is part of the display. I ordered a watch and waiting to see how it can handle abuse.....

 

[DTphonehome]

Interesting that they specifically exclude magnetic charging but didn't say anything about charging using the diagnostic port. Nor using the diagnostic port for anything else for that matter. Could be a good omen for future band-based accessories (unless they just don't want to officially acknowledge that post's existence).

 

[nebo1ss]

Now we'll find out if those Apple bands are really worth hundreds of dollars...

Apple will keep the price high by keeping the license fee high.

 

[gnasher729]

Often the case ay... although there is a difference between premium goods that just happen to be made in China and typical 'Chinese' items that are intentionally made to be as cheap/poor quality as possible.

But yeah... just because something's 'made in China', doesn't mean it's the same quality as the stuff made by the factory down the road.

One poster here mentioned that his company contacted a manufacturer in China to have something custom built for them, and they were quoted four different prices for four different quality levels. I'm sure that the some manufacturer in China is quite capable of building a charger that is rock solid and will work forever, another that kills you instantly, and two levels in between, all at different prices. As an end user, the problem is you don't know which one you are getting.

 

[2457282]

Hopefully it can open up more competition.., IMO the bands are significantly over-priced for what they are.

A lot of folks also say that that the watch is overpriced for what it is. So if you are going to buy the overpriced watch, why would you then not buy the overpriced band? In the end, I will stick with the Apple band. If it fails and the watch falls off, Apple will not be able to say the problem was my fault for using a non-certified band.

 

[69650]

£129 for a replacement leather loop strap! The third party strap makers will clean up against that sort of crazy pricing which is why I don't think Apple will let them in for a while.