Apple’s latest Pride band and wallpapers are bathed in neon

Apple’s newest band honoring LGBTQ+ communities is a brightly fluorescent Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop, Apple’s one-piece braided yarn band that stretches over a wearer’s wrist. The band will be available for $99 at Apple retail locations or through the company’s online store starting on May 22nd in the US and Canada — and elsewhere on May 23rd.

The new Pride band, looking far less like it sprang forth from the early ’90s than last year’s Sport band, will be available in both 41mm and 45mm sizes, making it compatible with the Apple Watch Series 4 or later and all versions of the Apple Watch SE. If you haven’t had one of the Braided Solo Loop bands, I hear you’re in for a treat. (I haven’t had one, but The Verge’s David Pierce quite liked it when he grabbed one in 2022.)

The bands will have laser etching that reads “PRIDE 2024.” Apple doesn’t explicitly say that any of the proceeds of its sales of these bands will go to LGBTQ+ charities, but the company does say it supports several organizations, including ILGA World, the Human Rights Campaign, The Trevor Product, Equality Texas, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

If you look closely at Apple’s special-edition watch band and wallpaper announcements, there are usually hints about when the next version of iOS will come out. For instance, the company announced its last Black History Month bands a week ahead of their release and said in the announcement that the accompanying wallpapers would come the same week as the bands. (Wallpapers and watchfaces generally only come with iOS and watchOS updates.)

The company was a little more vague this time, only writing that the Pride wallpapers and watchface will come “soon” with the software updates. So far, betas for iOS 17.5 have come with sideloading support for EU users as well as other features, like the ability to keep Find My switched on when sending an iPhone in for repairs.