Alongside new versions of iOS, watchOS, macOS, iPadOS, and tvOS, Apple today announced the launch of new Apple Watch bands that have been refreshed with summer colors. Apple debuts new band colors with almost all of its events, and today's event was no exception.
There are new Sport Bands available in Cornflower (blue), Dragon Fruit (dark pink), and Canary Yellow. All of the Sport Bands are available in 40/44mm size options and are priced at $49.
New Sport Loops, also priced at $49, are available in Cornflower, Dragon Fruit, and Canary Yellow too.
Apple has also made a new Pride version of the Sport Loop available in a rainbow of colors, marking the launch of the first Pride Sport Loop band to date.
For the iPad, Apple has added new Smart Covers in Cornflower (a shade of blue) for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and the iPad mini 5, and new silicone iPhone XS and XS Max cases in Canary Yellow, Dragon Fruit, and Cornflower.
All of these new bands and cases are available for order starting today and will be in Apple retail stores later this week.
Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
My original pride band is now a bit worn, though the one from last year didn't seem as nice, so hoping this one is a good replacement.
For those of you having a weird little freakout over these things existing, your issue is a weird mashup of hating capitalism (because folks buy them and the bands obviously have nice margins for Apple), not being able to understand that not every product is for every person and that's okay, and at the core of it, being just a bit ignorant and/or homophobic because really, nobody else gives a damn.
Know why I wear one, visibility and pride as a thing aside? Not only does it look nice with the SSSB Watch (red lugs etc.), but what a lot of straight cis folks miss is that coming out to people isn't a thing you do once, it's a thing you spend your whole life doing whenever you meet new people, because they'll assume you're straight and/or cis, and eventually you have to correct them and it's awkward. On top of that, gaydar isn't actually a real thing, and statistically the overwhelming majority of guys I'm ever attracted to will turn out to not even be into my gender, let alone me (seriously straight/bi folks, I envy you). So these things basically automatically out me to people, which is useful, and in practice a nice timesaver. Seems appropriate for a watch I think.
My original pride band is now a bit worn, though the one from last year didn't seem as nice, so hoping this one is a good replacement.
For those of you having a weird little freakout over these things existing, your issue is a weird mashup of hating capitalism (because folks buy them and the bands obviously have nice margins for Apple), not being able to understand that not every product is for every person and that's okay, and at the core of it, being just a bit ignorant and/or homophobic because really, nobody else gives a damn.
Know why I wear one, visibility and pride as a thing aside? Not only does it look nice with the SSSB Watch (red lugs etc.), but what a lot of straight cis folks miss is that coming out to people isn't a thing you do once, it's a thing you spend your whole life doing whenever you meet new people, because they'll assume you're straight and/or cis, and eventually you have to correct them and it's awkward. On top of that, gaydar isn't actually a real thing, and statistically the overwhelming majority of guys I'm ever attracted to will turn out to not even be into my gender, let alone me (seriously straight/bi folks, I envy you). So these things basically automatically out me to people, which is useful, and in practice a nice timesaver. Seems appropriate for a watch I think.
This all makes perfect sense. But then again, a lot of straight people like me like Pride bands, and that may mess with the self-outing rationale.
Finally a Pride band I like. I’m guessing at this point the woven nylon style is done for good for all bands. Good riddance; they were never very comfortable.
My original pride band is now a bit worn, though the one from last year didn't seem as nice, so hoping this one is a good replacement.
For those of you having a weird little freakout over these things existing, your issue is a weird mashup of hating capitalism (because folks buy them and the bands obviously have nice margins for Apple), not being able to understand that not every product is for every person and that's okay, and at the core of it, being just a bit ignorant and/or homophobic because really, nobody else gives a damn.
Know why I wear one, visibility and pride as a thing aside? Not only does it look nice with the SSSB Watch (red lugs etc.), but what a lot of straight cis folks miss is that coming out to people isn't a thing you do once, it's a thing you spend your whole life doing whenever you meet new people, because they'll assume you're straight and/or cis, and eventually you have to correct them and it's awkward. On top of that, gaydar isn't actually a real thing, and statistically the overwhelming majority of guys I'm ever attracted to will turn out to not even be into my gender, let alone me (seriously straight/bi folks, I envy you). So these things basically automatically out me to people, which is useful, and in practice a nice timesaver. Seems appropriate for a watch I think.
I'm straight, and I wear the Pride bands (have the first 2, and just ordered the new Sport Loop) for 2 simple reasons...my kids. My son is transgender, and my daughter is bisexual. Happy Pride Month!
