Apple's Refreshed iPhone Cases and Apple Watch Band Come in Earthy Pastels
With warmer weather comes Apple's midcycle case and band refresh for its 2023 phones and watches.
Soft mint, light blue and sunshine are among the new springy colors now available for iPhone cases.
While all eyes were on Apple's Monday drop of new MacBook Air models with its M3 processor, the company also delivered some new products for those who just want to freshen their phone or watch's look. The company quietly launched new colors for its silicone iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands. Yes, it's nowhere near the commitment of a new MacBook Air, but the new colors have fresh, springlike appeal. The phone cases and watch bands have some overlap in colors, and include bright, cheery hues and muted pastels.
Apple introduced three case styles when the Apple iPhone 15 series launched last fall, but only one of those -- the silicone case with MagSafe line -- was part of Monday's refresh. Unsurprisingly, neither of Apple's poorly received FineWoven cases received an update. Same with the Apple Watch bands: Several band styles saw a refresh, but not the FineWoven bands. Critics of Apple's new eco-friendly FineWoven material said it felt cheap, and it wore roughly in CNET reviewer Patrick Holland's experience.
Bright sunshine, mint green and more
The Apple iPhone 15 silicone case with MagSafe still comes in its original eight colors: black, storm blue, clay, light pink, guava, orange sorbet, cypress and winter blue. New for the season are the bright sunshine and pink: two colors evocative of warm-weather aesthetics. Also new are mint green and light blue, both gentle color options that have wide appeal.
This case has a soft finish on the outside and a microfiber lining on the inside. It also has built-in magnets to help secure the case to your phone, and it works with a MagSafe snap-on charger or any Qi Wireless-certified charger. The new colors are available now for $49 in cases that fit the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
As is common with Apple products, the Silicone Case with MagSafe comes at a premium price compared with some of the best iPhone cases we've tested.
Light blue is one of Apple's new iPhone case colors.
Watch band update
Some -- but not all -- of the refreshed phone case colors overlap with the new Apple Watch band colors. There are also two new colors just for the Apple Watch band collection.
The Sport Loop band gets soft mint and deep ocean blue. (Note to Apple: Ocean blue would be a lovely color for a phone case, too.) The Sport Band gets soft mint as well as sunshine and light blue, three of the four new phone case colors. The Braided Solo Loop adds sunshine, light blue and raspberry. And the Solo Loop -- which made our list of best Apple Watch bands -- now comes in pink, soft mint and ocean blue. Band prices vary by band size and type; all are available now via Apple.
Soft mint and ocean blue are among the new watch band colors.
Apple's branded bands aren't the only ones to receive updates. All four series of Apple Watch Hermès bands that are sold through Apple (priced at a spendy $349 each) got refreshed as well. The colors vary by band, which include the Hermès Toile H Single Tour, Hermès Twill Jump Single Tour, Hermès Tricot Single Tour and Hermès Kilim Single Tour. They embrace earthy blues, oranges and yellows, with names like "bleu Céleste/bleu Jean" and "jaune d'Or/bleu Jean." All are available now via Apple.