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The Solo Loop Sizing Kerfufle Banner Image

The Solo Loop Sizing Kerfufle

I’ve seen lots of Internet People™ (Gruber, 9to5Mac) saying that it would have been much better if Apple had put out a conversion chart indicating your Solo Loop size based on which hole in your Sport Band you use.

I think that would have probably made things worse for two big reasons. First, many people (including me) hover between 2 holes on my strap depending on whether I’m exercising, if it’s hot, if I’m bloated, etc. That would cause some minor confusion. The other confusion is tougher to solve for - the chart would be pretty big.

Some people don’t buy a new watch every year or two. Some do. In order for Apple to create a conversion chart for Sport Band to Solo Loop, they would have to account for the old 38mm and 42mm watch cases, which are slightly smaller, and the newer 40mm and 44mm watch cases. The older, smaller cases tend to position the watch band one hole looser.1 Then there are the strap lengths.

Remember, the Sport Band comes in S/M size and M/L size (and an L/XL size in some colors). So that makes 4 sizes in 2 or 3 lengths. Referencing that to a chart of 12 Solo Loops would be a tad confusing. Add to that the fact that most Watch users have no idea what size their case is or what length their band is. Yes, I know it’s all written somewhere on the Watch and band (assuming the label hasn’t worn away), but that’s one more thing the customer has to look up.

The paper Solo Loop sizing thing isn’t great, but it’s probably the least confusing way to do it. For fun, I took comments from a bunch of places on Reddit, MacRumors, and indie blogs where people posted their personal fitting experience, and here’s what the chart would look like:

Chart of Solo Loop Size ConversionsChart of Solo Loop Size Conversions

Apple recently changed their tune and announced that Solo Loops can be exchanged without returning the entire watch, which is a step in the right direction, but I think the actual correct thing to have done was to hold the Solo Loop for a post-COVID world where in-store fittings are possible.


  1. Imagine the entire circumference of case and band - if the circle stays the same length, then the band would need to be longer if the case is smaller↩︎

🗓️ September 23, 2020 📷 Apple 🏷️ Apple Watch
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