Near the end of every January, Apple releases a new Black Unity Apple Watch band in honor of Black History Month, and this year, Apple debuted the second Black Unity Sport Loop dubbed “Unity Rhythm,” which is the fifth Watch band in the Black Unity collection overall. I got my hands on the all-new Sport Loop, so let’s take a quick dive into what makes this Watch band so special.
When you purchase this elusive Sport Loop, you’ll see that the box is black, unlike the boxes for most Watch bands, which are usually white. Opening up the box, you’ll see a special note, embedded with a rhythmic pattern of black, green, and red stripes, that explains the design for this year’s Black Unity Apple Watch band that says the following:
This band and the accompanying Apple Watch face are inspired by the rhythm of humanity.
From the beat of a heart to the cadence of emotions, the flow of creativity to the tempo of culture, rhythm is a universal element of the human experience. And in moments of discord, when the world falls out of sync with itself, rhythm is instrumental in guiding us back to harmony.
Designed by Black creatives and allies at Apple
If you take a look at the Watch band itself, you’ll see a similar pattern of stripes that look as if it changes color based on the turn of your wrist. As with other Black Unity Watch bands, you’ll see the words “Black Unity” embroidered on the inside as with other Black Unity Watch bands. And it wouldn’t be a tradition for a new Black Unity Watch band without a complementary Watch face and Lock Screen for iOS/iPadOS.
This new “Unity Rhythm” Watch face is an analog watch face that displays the hour numeral in vibrant stripes of black, red, gold, and green (by default) that changes color using the gyroscope of the Apple Watch that detects the tilt movements. You can set the background color to any of the following:
- Unity (default)
- Black
- Cream
- Red
- Green
- Yellow
Additionally, you can add up to two corner complications, and this new Watch face is also optimized for Apple Watch Series 10 as it shows the second hand even in Always On Display mode, just like Activity Digital, Flux, and Reflections. And just like the recently-released Watch faces, this Watch face still shows in the Smart Stack interface. If only Apple would update all of its existing Watch faces to take full advantage of the Series 10’s LTPO3 display and the Smart Stack feature.
All in all, this Watch band looks really nice, and it’s a great addition to the Apple Watch Black Unity collection that Apple started in 2021. As of today, Apple has released five Watch bands for this collection, and Apple continues to sell all of them:
- Black Unity Sport Band (2021)
- Black Unity Braided Solo Loop (2022)
- Black Unity Sport Loop (2023)
- Black Unity Sport Band – Unity Bloom (2024)
- Black Unity Sport Loop – Unity Rhythm (2025)
The new Black Unity Sport Loop – Unity Rhythm is available at Apple for $49 and is compatible with all Apple Watch models. The other Black Unity Watch bands are also available for $49 except for the Black Unity Solo Loop at $99. The complementary Watch face is available via a free software update for Apple Watch (watchOS 11.3), and the Lock Screens for iPhone and iPad are available when you update those devices to iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, respectively.
Will you be picking up this new Apple Watch band? Which one in the Black Unity Collection has been your favorite? Sound off in the comments below, and make sure to follow us at X for more news and deals.
