Roger Fingas
Two photos posted on Twitter today by British cyclist and ex-rugby player Will Carling show what appear to be unreleased Apple products, including a red version of the Apple Watch sport band and a folding UK wall adapter.
Carling said that the folding charger was gifted to him by lead Apple designer Jony Ive. The provenance of the sport band is unclear, but might also have come from Ive, who is a fellow Brit and a rugby fan, MacRumors noted. Between 1988 and 1996, Carling was the captain of England's national rugby team.
The sport band currently comes in five colors: black, white, pink, blue, and green. The black color is alternately available with a space gray pin.
Apple may well be preparing a (PRODUCT)RED sport band. Like other RED products, some of the proceeds would go towards the Global Fund, which combats AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.
Likewise, the folding charger could be set to become a standard for UK Apple products. Ive and Apple have, however, produced custom products in the past. Just recently, Apple gave an all-gold Watch to fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and provided director J.J. Abrams with a stainless steel model and a bespoke dark blue sport band.
Giving Carling access to exclusive (or pre-release) products could be a personal gesture from Ive, or simply another way for Apple to build publicity.
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Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
36 Comments
Apple seems pretty confident in the implementation of its watch to hand it out as gifts to famous people, because if it was buggy or had issues, that could potentially backfire. Of course, The Usual Suspects will twist this into various "concerns" because they don't like change. Watch for their posts below.
Something looks amiss with the band at the bottom-right corner of the watch...
I wonder if that plug is BS1363 compliant...
Something looks amiss with the band at the bottom-right corner of the watch...
Yeah, it's not all the way into the watch's slot. Either not pushed in enough, or it's working its way free.
let me tell you, as a fellow Brit, Will Carling hasn't been in the news for YEARS. I doubt this is Apple's way of getting publicity. It's more likely that Ive is his friend, or Ive likes rugby. Now, the folding charger, I'm on-board with that!