In a new interview, two Apple executives talk about Apple's wide range of Apple Watch band options for customers, how they're designed, and their thinking behind them.
Stan Ng, Apple's vice president of product marketing, and Evans Hankey, Apple's vice president of industrial design, spoke to Hyperallergic about Apple Watch bands.
The design of the Apple Watch allows customers to quickly change their bands as they please, a typically hard thing to do with traditional watches.
Hankey said customers have an "unbelievable number of potential combinations, well into the thousands" of styles to use, when considering the ability for users to change their watch face, watchband style and color.
The bands from previous years have been compatible with the newest model in the same size. Apple increased the case sizes for the Apple Watch Series 7 to 41mm and 45mm, but watch bands for 40mm and 44mm remain compatible.
Hankey said that backward compatibility is a top priority.
The band's interchangeability has been a cornerstone of the product since the first Apple Watch. The system gives an unbelievable number of combinations, between the band style and color, material of the Watch housing, and which Watch face you've selected. We have pushed ourselves to maintain backward compatibility, which has been a challenge as the display has grown over the years.
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Each band expresses their love for materials, craft, and the process of making, and the band is not at all about technology.
The design of the Apple Watch bands is important in making sure that the Apple Watch doesn't get interrupted. The Apple Watch bands feature "innovations" to ensure they're comfortable and don't ruin the experience.
It's easy to adjust or find the right band size for a perfect fit with the magnets on the Milanese loop and Leather Link.
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This ensures the watch is comfortable to wear, not too snug and not too loose, while also enabling features like all-day heart rate tracking, blood oxygen readings, and on-wrist detection that allow you to use Apple Pay or unlocks your phone securely without authenticating every time.
Apple designs its own set of bands, but it also works with high-end luxury brands. Apple and Herms have an obsession with details, craftsmanship, and stories. The executives go into more detail about some popular Apple Watch bands in the remainder of the interview. The full interview can be found here.
