Every year, Apple celebrates Pride Month (which is coming in June). The celebrations include new wallpaper for the iPhone and iPad, a watch face for the Apple Watch and a new Apple Watch Band.
This year, it’s a Sport Band, one that looks unlike any that has gone before it — or indeed any other band you’ll see, as each is unique.
Apple always does the Pride band a little differently. Even the box it comes in has full-color instructions instead of black-and-white, with an approximation of the band shown in color.
It’s an approximation because each band is unique. Check out the arrangement of colors on my band compared to the one on the box and you’ll see they’re subtly different.
“Featuring a tapestry of rainbow stripes that vary in shape and size, each Pride Edition Sport Band is assembled by hand from individual stripes of vibrant color that are compression-molded together, creating subtle yet striking variations. No two bands are exactly alike, reflecting the individuality of all members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Apple says in its support document.
What’s noticeable is that although one band’s colors differ slightly from the next one, they are finely tuned so that they look as though they continue seamlessly when the band is closed. And the regular fluoroelastomer Apple uses feels as supple and comfortable as ever.
They don’t flow into the Watch face as has happened with previous bands. Instead, the face shows the number of the hour in blocky colors. A neat thing to do (though I’m not suggesting your spend your day following this) is to watch the number change as the hour does, with the blocks so abstract it takes a second or two to realize how exactly they represent the hour. Meanwhile, within the hour, the blocks change color, and the wrist-down look is strikingly different from the active one.
The watch face has room for complications and you can actually ignore the blocky hour number as this is an analog face with second-hand.
The Pride Edition Sport Band is available in 40mm, 42mm, and 46mm sizes, in both S/M and M/L lengths, so it will fit every Apple Watch, including the Ultra and Ultra 2.
The new Apple Watch Pride Edition Sport Band costs $49 (£49 in the U.K.) and is available now.
