Here’s a look at an unreleased Apple Watch silicone band with a metal buckle

May 28, 2024

3 min read

Apple experiments with a lot of things inside its laboratories, and many of these experiments never see the light of day. One of these experiments is a quite intriguing silicone band for the Apple Watch that has a metal buckle. And thanks to a leaked prototype, we can now take a look at it.

Apple Watch band prototype

The leaker known as StellaFudge has shared multiple images of a silicone Apple Watch band that was never released by Apple. Rather than having a traditional pin on one part of the band, it comes with an adjustable metal buckle and a clickable mechanism. The band shown in the images is red, but Apple has also reportedly made a white prototype.

Apple is also said to have made some leather prototypes of this watch band in Saddle Brown, Red, and Ultraviolet.

“The buckle is attached with a pin bar to secure it to one end. The actual locking mechanism itself is extremely simple and has a very satisfying click. It adjust similar to a sport band, but has a greater degree of support for wrists,” StellaFudge said in a post on X.

Although it’s unclear why Apple decided to scrap this watch band, the leaker suspects it’s because adjusting the buckle is “annoying,” not to mention that it’s probably more difficult to produce.

Here’s an Apple Watch band design that never made it into production.

Apple Deployment Band!

The Sport variety is known to come in White and Red (pictured), and a few leather versions exist I n Saddle Brown, Red, and Ultraviolet

Less than 15 are known to exist of all types. pic.twitter.com/i6NHNuYCK1

— Stella – Fudge (@StellaFudge) May 28, 2024

In the past, leaked Apple prototypes have also revealed other ideas scrapped by the company. This includes a darker Apple Watch Ultra with a black ceramic back. Some of these prototypes end up inspiring the design of future products, while others are simply shelved forever. For instance, FCC revealed photos of a gold iPhone X, but Apple decided to keep that color for the iPhone XS.

Rumors suggest that Apple will announce a redesigned “Apple Watch X” later this year, so there’s a chance we’ll see redesigned watch bands as well.