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.
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps.
To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features.
The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4.
There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...
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!
