Gracious Apple is letting you keep your old watch bands for yet another year

Apple Watch Series 10 launched yesterday, featuring a superior speaker, larger display, thinner design, water temperature sensor, and much more. One common concern among those planning to upgrade is band compatibility. Given its bigger build, do older Apple Watch bands work with the Series 10? Fortunately, yes.

Apple states on its website that “older Apple Watch bands, including 41mm and 45mm sizes, will be compatible with the new 42mm and 46mm cases, and all new 42mm and 46mm bands will be compatible with older Apple Watch models.”

So, if you’ve been using a small Apple Watch, your bands will continue to work with the 42mm Series 10. Similarly, bands designed for the larger Apple Watch models will work with the 46mm Series 10. As long as you stick to either the small or large watch lane, your bands will continue to be compatible.

This isn’t the first time Apple has increased the size of its smartwatch. The Apple Watch Series 0, 1, 2, and 3 offered 38mm and 42mm variants. The Series 4, 5, and 6 then followed, featuring 40mm and 44mm editions. The firm then stretched the watches yet again with the Series 7, 8, and 9, increasing their size to 41mm and 45mm.

Throughout the decade, Apple has never broken its watch’s band compatibility. That’s assuming you opt for the same main size (small or large). While the Apple Watch Series 10 was initially rumored to introduce a new magnetic band attachment mechanism, that didn’t materialize. Consequently, users get to keep their existing band collections and use them with the latest model just fine.