Apple May Discontinue Leather Bands for Apple Watch With Launch of Series 9

Apple may discontinue the availability of leather bands for Apple Watch with the launch of its new Series 9 models, according to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Yesterday, Gurman commented on the rumored new 'woven' iPhone 15 case shared by Sonny Dickson, saying...

I am expecting Apple to begin moving away from leather on its Apple Watch bands as well, but unclear how this impacts the Hermes partnership (I would assume it does not).


Today, he has revised that assumption as it appears that Apple is holding a firesale on Hermes' leather bands.

Update on that assumption: I'm told that Apple last month started offering employees its Hermes leather accessories (and leather link bands) at up to 90% off. Clearly some inventory clearing going on. The internal deal continues but everything is out of stock. For instance, an Apple-Hermes band normally $850 is on sale for $85 to Apple employees (probably what it is actually worth).

Additionally, Gurman notes that several other accessories are being sold at a deep discount including many Solo Loop bands in outgoing colors and the MagSafe charging dock.

Undoubtably, we'll learn more at Apple's special 'Wonderlust' event scheduled for September 12. Please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for full coverage.