Older 42-45mm Bands Compatible With 49mm Apple Watch Ultra

The new 49mm Apple Watch Ultra will work with most existing Apple Watch bands, according to Apple's website. The device is compatible with bands designed for the larger 42, 44, and 45mm case sizes available for the Series 8 and older Apple Watch models.

apple watch ultra
It is not, however, compatible with some of the smaller bands that are designed for the 38, 40, and 41mm Apple Watch models. From the Apple Watch site:

You can match most bands with any Apple Watch Series 3 or newer case of the same size. The 41mm bands work with 38mm and 40mm cases; the 45mm bands work with 42mm, 44mm and 49mm cases.

The Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop bands are only compatible with Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 4 or newer. The 40mm and 41mm cases work with band sizes 1-9; the 44mm and 45mm cases works with band sizes 1-12.

Some bands, such as sport bands purchased for the 41mm Apple Watch, won't work with the 49mm Apple Watch Ultra, but bands designed for the larger Apple Watch models are compatible. Basically if you have a band you've used for the 42, 44, or 45mm Apple Watch models, it should work with the Apple Watch Ultra. Apple also suggests that all Braided and Solo Loop sizes will work with the new larger Apple Watch.

Conversely, the Trail Loop, Alpine Loop, and Ocean Band crafted for the Apple Watch Ultra can also be used with 44mm and 45mm Apple Watches, but not the smaller 40mm and 41mm models.

Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Colors

iPhone 18 Rumored to Feature 50% More RAM

Saturday October 25, 2025 2:57 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 could feature 50% more memory than its predecessor, according to Korea's The Bell. With its latest iPhone lineup, the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max feature 12GB of memory. This is a significant increase of 4GB more their predecessors, largely driven by the demands of on-device artificial intelligence processing. The iPhone 17 is the only new...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...
Emergency SOS via Satellite iPhone YT

iPhone 18 Pro Rumored to Support Full 5G Satellite Internet

Friday October 24, 2025 7:18 am PDT by
At least some new iPhone models launching next year may support full 5G satellite internet, according to a report this week from The Information. "Apple plans to add support in upcoming iPhones as early as next year for 5G networks that aren't tethered to Earth's surface, which includes satellites," the report said. "That would give the iPhone full internet access over satellite," it added. ...

Top Rated Comments

cczhu Avatar
41 months ago
Surprising that Apple does it
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
symphony Avatar
41 months ago
Lmao some crazy Apple fan on this forum was basically defending Apple that they should make users abandon all their previous Apple Watch band collections, blah blah blah, giving excuses on the behalf of Apple.

Glad to see I wouldn’t have to abandon all my bands from over the years.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
41 months ago
I was wondering about that. Sweet, I will be using old bands with the new Apple Watch Ultra.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Andrew73875 Avatar
41 months ago
It gives me Siemens M65 vibes. Also was positioned as durable and robust and had that brutalist look to it.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
_Spinn_ Avatar
41 months ago
This is a great surprise! Glad they are compatible.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iGeneo Avatar
41 months ago

bezels look huge
Titanium border by design
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)