Those who have been waiting for Apple Watch bands to become available to buy in Apple’s retail stores may not have to wait too much longer after the company sent a message to its outlets informing them that bands would begin to be available in stores this week.
According to the message that has been sent to Apple Stores by the company’s headquarters – revealed by 9to5Mac – Apple Watch bands will begin to arrive in stores within days, giving retailers the chance to swap out some of the display units’ worn out bands while also offering stock to customers who wish to switch out the band that came with their Watch for a different one. If any stock is left over once those two situations have been catered for, Apple Stores will be able to sell bands to anyone who wishes to purchase one.
Apple Watch bands have been in short supply so far, even with orders being restricted to online purchases only. While Sport bands seem to have been in relatively good supply, Apple’s leather and metal bands have been hard to come by with shipping times stretching into June. With some bands now seeing expected ship dates within a couple of weeks it is clear that supply is starting to ramp up, even to the point where Apple seems to be confident that it can now supply bands to stores as well as its online presence.
While bands will reportedly be arriving in Apple Stores for sale this week it is believed that the Sport bands will be the most readily available, at least initially. Apple’s other bands will likely be hard to come by for the foreseeable future, though that is expected to b rectified as time rolls on.
Apple Watch availability has been a big talking point since the wearable went on sale April 24th. Reported issues with faulty Taptic Engine units as well as certain bands being in short supply have left some early orders still to be fulfilled. Hopefully that situation will start to rectify itself sooner rather than later.
You may also like to check out:
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.