Thanks MW! I did not. The only thing I knew about apple before starting was it's estimated SG along with reports that it was good in compression and prone to dramatic tension failures. So I did not want to make the back do any extra work and added the rawhide for an extra margin.
If I had a few more staves I would try again with narrower limbs, maybe 1 5/8" and a slight heat treat into 1" of reflex.