Apple unveiled two new Apple Watch bands and matching faces Monday, celebrating Apple and Nike’s commitment to Pride and LGBTQ representation.
The new Apple Watch Pride Edition Sport Band boasts a distinctive vertical-stripe rainbow design. Meanwhile, a second new band — the Apple Watch Nike Sport Band — has also been reimagined for Pride.
Both bands are available today from Apple.com, the Apple Store app and — wherever they’re open — Apple Stores. To go with the bands, Apple created a pair of matching Pride Watch faces coming soon as part of watchOS 6.2.5.
In a press release, Apple said:
“Through this effort, Apple and Nike are proud to support LGBTQ organizations doing vital advocacy and community-building worldwide, including GLSEN, PFLAG, The Trevor Project, Gender Spectrum, The National Center for Transgender Equality, and ILGA World, which brings together more than 1,500 member organizations in more than 150 countries and regions.”
Apple has long been a supporter of Pride. In years where Pride marches can take place, Apple employees including CEO Tim Cook usually march as part of the event. Cook famously came out as gay several years into his stint as Apple CEO in a history-making essay for Businessweek.
This year, LGBTQ Pride month had to change due to the current coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, releasing these bands shows that, even at a time when most of us are socially distancing, and large-scale public events (like parades) are absent, this is still a topic that Apple and Nike care very much about.
