Apple supports LGBTQ+ community with 2022 Pride bands

Experimental street dancer Jin Lee Baobei, wearing the new Pride Edition Sport Loop band for Apple Watch, shot on iPhone 13 Pro by Collier Schorr. “Pride is an essence that affirms: however you decide to change, grow, and show up is enough,” Baobei says.

Celebrating June’s Pride month, Apple has announced this year’s Apple Watch Pride Edition bands and tells us a new Shot on iPhone pride campaign will launch next month.

Why this matters

Now in its seventh year, the Apple Watch Pride Edition bands and watch faces symbolizes that Apple supports, and is proudly made up of the LGBTQ+ community.

In 2021, Apple’s Tim Cook said: “Apple supports the ongoing and unfinished work of equality for diverse and intersectional communities, and we want to provide every opportunity to celebrate and honor this history during Pride season.”

This year, Apple will introduce two new Pride Edition bands with dynamic Pride watch faces in support of the global LGBTQ+ community and equality movement. These consist of the Pride Edition Sport Loop and the Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop.

Apple supports numerous LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations working to bring about positive change, including Encircle, The Trevor Project, the Equality Federation Institute, Equality North Carolina, Equality Texas, Gender Spectrum, GLSEN, Human Rights Campaign, ILGA World, The National Center for Transgender Equality, PFLAG, and SMYAL.

About the Pride Edition Sport Loop

This loop this year showcases a color gradient with the word “pride” woven directly into the band. Apple is also launching a new Shot on iPhone pride campaign on Instagram that captures the essence of artists and figures within the global LGBTQ+ community.

Members and allies of the LGBTQ+ creative community at Apple were inspired to deliver a new expression of pride through this unique design. The company made use of a new technique to remove several of the double-layer nylon-woven textile loops on the band in order to reveal the word “pride” in a cursive style inspired by the original 1984 Mac’s “hello” greeting.

The team designed a color gradient that incorporates the original rainbow colors with those drawn from various pride flags, including light blue, pink, and white, representing transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, and black and brown, symbolizing Black and Latinx communities. The colors also represent those who are living with or have passed away from HIV/AIDS.

The Pride Edition Sport Loop and Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop are available now for $49 (US). The new Pride watch face will be available today, and requires Apple Watch Series 4 or later running watchOS 8.6, and iPhone 6s or later running iOS 15.5.

About the Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop

The Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop celebrates the full spectrum of the rainbow and features a matching rainbow-colored Nike Bounce face that accompanies the new band. The company’s  Be True initiative is part of Nike’s broader commitment to the LGBTQ+ community.

About the Pride Threads Watch Face

Inspired by multiple pride flags, this new watch face combines colors to represent the strength and mutual support of the LGBTQ+ movement.

Mirroring the woven loops of the Sport Loop, each strand of vibrant thread contributes to the overall composition of the watch face. The threads move as the Digital Crown on Apple Watch is rotated, the display is tapped, or the user’s wrist is raised.

Apple is also including new App Clip functionality within the band packaging so you can swiftly setup the new watch face.

A New Shot on iPhone Pride Campaign

From Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco to Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, the Shot on iPhone pride campaign will showcase imagery from an illustrious group of intersectional creatives, celebrating present-day queer pioneers in places of historic significance to the LGBTQ+ movement.

Coming soon to @apple on Instagram, the series will feature works from photographers Ryan McGinley at Stonewall Inn in New York; Evan Benally Atwood at Window Rock in Arizona; Meinke Klein at The Homomonument in Amsterdam; Caia Ramalho at Paulista Avenue in São Paulo; Lydia Metral at Plaza de Chueca in Madrid; and Collier Schorr at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, featuring Baobei.

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