Apple has debuted all-new LGBTQ Pride Month straps and watch faces for 2020. The new faces and bands riff on the rainbow colors of the Gay Pride flag, which was created by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978 and has become a global symbol of LGBTQ rights and pride.
This is the third year the tech company has celebrated Pride Month with a spate of specially designed accessories and options for the Apple Watch.
The brand has dropped two new straps: a boldly striped Apple Watch Pride Edition Sport Band and the more subtle Apple Watch Nike Pride Edition Sport Band—a white strap with circular perforations lined in the different colors of the rainbow (see both below).
The Pride Edition Sport Band—which in this reporter’s opinion is one of the coolest Apple Watch bands ever released—is assembled by hand from individual strips of colored fluoroelastomer, according to Apple’s website. The strips are then machine die-cut and compression molded together. “This process results in subtle variations in the wavy rainbow design, making each band artfully unique,” reads its description. “An innovative pin-and-tuck closure ensures a clean fit.”
There are also two new rainbow-incorporating Pride watch faces—including one that matches the wall-to-wall rainbow stripes of the Apple Watch Pride Edition Sport Band and a sleeker black-based screen. All the new watch faces are available by doing a “long press” on the watch face, which allows you to cycle through options. The new ones are there.
In a statement, Apple said it’s “proud to support LGBTQ advocacy organizations working to bring about positive change, including Encircle, Gender Spectrum, GLSEN, PFLAG, SMYAL, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Trevor Project in the U.S., and ILGA World internationally.”
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