The tech company has just unveiled their brand new Apple Watch Pride Edition Sport Loop in an exclusive announcement with Out.
The new band showcases the colors of the Progress flag — which is inclusive of trans, Latinx, and Black people — as well as the word “Pride” woven on it.
The cursive lettering references the “Hello” text from the original 1984 Macintosh. It has a three-dimensional look, thanks to a new technique in which several layers of the nylon-woven textile loops were removed.
Apple also debuted a new intersectional-themed Pride watch face, which, “combines colors to represent the strength and mutual support of the LGBTQ+ movement,” according to a press statement. The digital imagery reflects the woven bands of the Sport Loop, which move when the wearer raises their wrist, taps the face, or rotates the Digital Crown.
There is also a new Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop. It differs from Apple’s by the addition of black stripes, a design element of Nike’s Be True campaign, which promotes LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality in sports.
Each band is priced at $49 and is available to order on Tuesday on Apple.com. It can be picked up at brick-and-mortar stores beginning May 26.
The new Apple Watch unveiling coincides with the announcement of Apple’s Pride campaign shot in iPhone, which will feature “present-day queer pioneers in places of historic significance to the LGBTQ+ movement” on the @apple Instagram, according to the statement.
Participants include Ryan McGinley at Stonewall Inn in New York; Evan Benally Atwood at Window Rock in Arizona; Meinke Klein at The Homomonument in Amsterdam; Caia Ramalho at Paulista Avenue in São Paulo; Lydia Metral at Plaza de Chueca in Madrid; and Collier Schorr in San Francisco, featuring Baobei.
Apple first launched a Pride band seven years ago as a visual sign of its commitment to LGBTQ+ equality. Helmed by out CEO Tim Cook, the company has supported numerous LGBTQ+ groups throughout the years, including the Trevor Project, GLSEN, and the Human Rights Campaign.
To promote the new Apple Watch band, the company also shared images with Out of experimental street dancer Jin Lee Baobei modeling it. The images were shot on iPhone 13 Pro by photographer Collier Schorr.
"To me, Pride is integrity within the internal and external,” Baobei says. “Queerness in every form always returns to a raw love and honesty with self, community, and the world — I feel that that's one of the most revolutionary things to embody in a society that is (mostly) insistent on the policing of how people should exist. Pride is an essence that affirms: however you decide to change, grow, and show up is enough. Your existence is worth celebrating simply because you are here, and to be here as you are despite it all is a miracle."
