Every once in awhile I’ll head over to Apple’s website and start looking at the Apple Watch (and new MacBook), as I try to mentally prepare myself to buy one/pre-order one, come April 10.
And every time I go to the website, I find that I’m dissatisfied with the options that Apple has in front of me. Sure, seeing the Apple Watch Sport “available in 10 models” is great, and even more impressive is the “available in 20 models” that comes tagged to the Watch collection. There’s no denying that there are options for the Apple Watch, especially when you head to the “Bands” section of the website and start looking at the extra bands you can buy for the wearable.
Options exist. It’s just not very customer friendly.
Apple and options don’t really go hand-in-hand, to be frank, so I’m sure that I shouldn’t be shocked at the options available to buy later in April. And yet, I’m very disappointed, because this isn’t supposed to just be another piece of technology, or gadget, but an expressive device that’s meant to be shown off. This is Apple’s most personal device, not just for the company, but that statement is meant for the person buying it, too.
Unfortunately, I don’t don’t care with Apple, and it’s because of the way they’re selling the Watch. At least, the way they’re saying –via their website– how they plan on selling the Watch. I guess anything is possible come April 10, or heading into an Apple Retail Store, but online it’s a pretty grim sight to behold. Because when you start to dig into those 10 or 20 models (I really don’t feel like talking about the Watch Edition today), you realize that those numbers are all Stainless Steel options.
I’m looking at Apple’s website right now, trying to finally decide which Apple Watch I want, and the only thing I can think about is the fact that the case I want, the Space Gray case, is limited to only one model. One. Out of the 10 available or the 20 available for the Watch Sport or Watch, only one is for the Space Gray (or Space Black, for the steel option) case. There are a ton of colored/material band options for the Stainless Steel option, though. Sifting through the Watch and Watch Sport options shows that all of the models are essentially Stainless Steel variants, while the Space Gray/Black is reserved for only one band: the black Sport or the Black Stainless Steel Link Bracelet.
This isn’t okay. Sure, it’s fine for Apple because it’s Apple and they can sell the Watch in whatever way they want to, but for me, as a consumer, I’m left sitting here wondering why I have to pay an extra $50 (or more) to get the band I want, when it would be easier for Apple to just offer the option right out of the gate. And, yes, I know that there are way more people out there that are willing to spend the extra money to get the case and strap they want, but I just wish Apple would make it possible to find the perfect combination because they made it possible without throwing even more money at them.
For example: I was thinking that I wanted the Space Black Case Apple Watch, and I wanted to get it with the Milanese Loop. Right now, on Apple’s website, the only way you can get the Milanese Loop with an Apple Watch is to get the Stainless Steel Case. There is no option for the Space Black Case with a Milanese Loop. So, because Apple won’t let me mix-and-match cases and bands, that means I have to spend $1,049.00 (plus tax) to get the Space Black Case, and then an additional $149.00 (plus tax) to get the Milanese Loop band separately.
Yeah, I’m not going to do that. I would spend $649.00 (maybe) to get the Space Black Case with a Milanese Loop, though. I might even spend an additional $50 to get a Sport band, too. That’s still just over $700 after it’s all said and done, instead of just over $1,200.
Almost a week ago it was reported that Apple won’t allow for any mix-and-match efforts from customers to start when the Apple Watch goes on sale, which means that at some point in the future, Apple could very well add a Space Black Case with Milanese Loop as an option to buy, without any extra effort, but right now it looks like that’s not going to be an option. Both in-store or online. And that’s supremely frustrating. It took some time to convince myself that I wanted an Apple Watch, but looking through the available models right now is like sifting through limitations, rather options.
