The new Black Unity Braided Solo Loop for Apple Watch, created to celebrate Black History Month, is now available to purchase from select Apple stores globally.
- Apple opened pre-orders for the new Apple Watch band on January 26, 2022
- The new watch strap arrived at select Apple retail stores on February 1
- The Black Unity Braided Solo Loop is available in 41mm and 45mm sizes
Apple unveiled the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop for Apple Watch on January 26, opening pre-orders on the very same day. As of today, February 1, the new Apple Watch strap is available at select retail locations for walk-in customers. The company claims the new Black Unity Braided Solo Loop was created by weaving together 16,000 recycled yarn and silicone threads “using advanced precision-braiding machinery.”
Apple wanted the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop to provide a very comfortable fit so it has decided to provide this band in nine sizes. Priced at $99, the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop is available to purchase on apple.com, in the Apple Store app and at the company’s select retail locations.
The Black Unity Braided Solo Loop requires Apple Watch SE or Series 4 and newer.
And a watch face, powered by 2D ray-tracing technology
Aside from the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop, Apple also launched a matching watch face, dubbed Unity Lights, powered by 2D ray-tracing technology. Available on Apple Watch Series 4 or later, every pixel of this analog watch face is being ray-traced in 2D to look realistic. Apple says this technology has never been used on a smartwatch.
Each pixel on the screen simulates the light and shadow falling across it and the movement of the clock hands simultaneously reveal and hide the light, changing dynamically throughout the day. The Unity Lights watch face can be customized to be a full screen or circular dial, and includes a black and white option, tick marks and up to four complications.
The Unity Lights watch face requires Apple Watch Series 4 or later running watchOS 8.3, as well as iPhone 6s or later running iOS 15.2.
How to download Apple’s new Unity Lights watch face
You can download the Unity Lights watch face in the companion Watch app on your paired iPhone, by selecting the Face Gallery tab, then choosing it under New Watch Faces.
- Open the Watch app on your paired iPhone
- Select the “Face Gallery” tab at the bottom
- Hit “Unity Lights” underneath the heading “New Watch Faces”
- Touch the “Add” button to add the watch face
- Now select the “My Watch” tab at the bottom
- Customize the Unity Lights watch face you just added
- Choose the option labeled “Set as current Watch Face”
Doing so will set Unity Lights as the default watch face on your Apple Watch. You can also customize it right from the watch, by pressing and holding on the current watch face to enter the editing interface. In the Watch app, you can share your customized watch face by hitting the Share button. Read: How to share your favorite Apple Watch faces
Both the new watch strap and the matching face were released as part of Apple’s celebration of Black History Month, also known as African-American History Month.