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Apple Card Found to Contain 90% Titanium and 10% Aluminum

I love all of the salty responses to this card. Don’t want it? Then move on. I, for one, find many innovative properties:
-Better OpSec w/ no numbers on the physical card
-Can issue new number on demand
-No fees, of any kind
-24/7 text chat support
-Instant daily cash rewards
-Better UI for understanding transactions
-Better card activation process
-Speculating, but conceivable we will see other perks like priority purchases for new devices etc

Put all of this together and it is one of the best cards on the market, and the favorite in my wallet.
 
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Nuno Lopes said:
Innovation would be if they actually went the other way. Instead of producing a card so susceptible to wear and tear, they produced something that was wear and tear proof as much as possible.
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Yeah, tell that to all the plastic cards I’ve had that have cracked from merely being in my wallet.

I can deal with some scuffs with time. The card will continue to work.
 
The vast majority of titanium used in various applications is actually a titanium-aluminum alloy. 4% aluminum is pretty normal. There is nothing unusual about the composition of the card.
 
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tothemoonsands said:
I love all of the salty responses to this card. Don’t want it? Then move on. I, for one, find many innovative properties:
-Better OpSec w/ no numbers on the physical card
-Can issue new number on demand
-No fees, of any kind
-24/7 text chat support
-Instant daily cash rewards
-Better UI for understanding transactions
-Better card activation process
-Speculating, but conceivable we will see other perks like priority purchases for new devices etc

Put all of this together and it is one of the best cards on the market, and the favorite in my wallet.
Click to expand...

I too like all of the extra security features of the card. It wouldn’t surprise me to see other CC companies start to roll them out as well.

As to you last point, Apple has already added Uber and Uber Eats to the list of purchases that give 3% cash back, so I for one expect there will be more.
 
Making it (largely) Titanium, and then coating it white, is a near criminal level of wasted opportunity - Titanium anodizes into such pretty colors.
 
Nuno Lopes said:
This kind of “innovation” is actually what gives a bad rep to people that actually like and care for their Apple products.

Innovation would be if they actually went the other way. Instead of producing a card so susceptible to wear and tear, they produced something that was wear and tear proof as much as possible.

Anyway, I almost don’t take cards anyway, soon hopefully will be none.

Just my too cents.
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I sincerely don't see the surprise here. Since when Apple is not about the aesthetics and form over function?

BTW, metal cards are not a new trend, after the platinum and gold monikers they are just the next status symbol available, they hardly add any true robustness versus conventional thermoplastic materials(they will easily show more dints and become bend). Even strictly from that standpoint making them out of some titanium alloy VS stainless steel hardly makes them stronger, I would say even less since Ti is a softer metal.

That cardless dream is all fun and stuff, but try to rent a car or check in at some hotel, especially overseas...
 
tothemoonsands said:
I love all of the salty responses to this card.
Click to expand...

I always wonder if it is a membership requirement for the wet-blankets and kill-joy clubs around the world for members to get an account at Macrumors and to post the most asinime complaints they can come up with regarding any minutia related to Apple products.

And the thing is, the Apple card has some very real "deficiencies". But hey, let's spend our time agonizing on how pure the platinum is because, you know, that is really important to exactly zero sane people.
 
kobalap said:
I always wonder if it is a membership requirement for the wet-blankets and kill-joy clubs around the world for members to get an account at Macrumors and to post the most asinime complaints they can come up with regarding any minutia related to Apple products.

And the thing is, the Apple card has some very real "deficiencies". But hey, let's spend our time agonizing on how pure the platinum is because, you know, that is really important to exactly zero sane people.
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You forgot to mention that the very existence of this article and its consequential comments thread on Macrumors, is considered as utterly absurd by a majority of people. Their remarks are merely intended to echo likewise absurdity, or aim even better at wanting to be totally cynical.

For one person to come to the jolly playground, calling these remarks ‘salty’ while at the same time making a serious list of Pro’s for the Apple Card... is like coming with a chessboard to a skate park. Yes it’s absurd too, but in an awkwardly serious way.
 
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adamjackson said:
Ordered one thanks!
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Do you plan on carrying every day (like a wallet) or is this at-home/longer-term storage?
I just am trying to wrap my head around this accessory since Apple provides FREE card replacements. That means it shouldn't be a problem to replace every year or two (or perhaps more as needed). That said, seems like a legitimate well made wooden product, but it's also quite expensive since you are protecting something that is free to replace.
 
coasterider said:
Aren't most wallets leather?
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Naw, most wallets are Pleather /s

In any case it's normal for companies to release guidelines for care and cleaning that seems excessive, let's see what real life average users say after a while (no, not youtubers with an interest in views). Personally I don't care about scratches/stains, I can't even see the text on my plastic cards anymore. I also keep my iPhone XS in an ugly TPU case because it's the stuff on the screen that matters to me. I do hope that for those who care it'll be OK, though.

What I care about are the benefits, when it comes to Canada I'll be carefully comparing to other cards.
 
Robert.Walter said:
I’m surprised folks aren’t stripping off the paint, and putting different surface treatments on the metal.

There’s lots that can be done with color, machine turning, buffing, etc.

Both the chip and mag strip could be masked to protect their functionality.
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So a card that matches the color of your phone or Apple watch?
 
Sasparilla said:
Based on the issue of wear and tear on these cards from casual use we're seeing - guessing we'll see an updated version within a year that is a bit more immune to degradation from normal use.
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if you’re getting wear and tear from “normal use” you’re doing it wrong. People need to be using Apple Pay for rewards, not flaunting their vanity card around to dole it out for every starbucks run you make.

if they don’t take Apple Pay use your Amex Platinum instead if you insist on dropping metal, at least you’ll get 4x points.
 
hubieonekanubie said:
It’s most likely 6AL4V titanium alloy. Commercially pure titanium is soft and would bend very easily. Almost all things that are said to be titanium are titanium alloys with other things mixed in. There was probably vanadium in there as well.
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Agreed. Other than nearly pure titanium which would be too soft (and not properly an alloy), this is probably the most common alloy and is well known (used for what 70 years?).

And why a scanning electron microscope to determine content? On a quick look no mention of Ti-10Al anywhere. http://www.matweb.com/Search/MaterialGroupSearch.aspx?GroupID=181. This is probably not the field of a mineralogist but of a metallurgist or materials scientist. But then we don't expect Bloomberg to know anything about this. If so they could have commented on the properties of this alloy (which I can't do; I only enough to be dangerous).

One advantage to most (if not all) titanium alloys is that they are spark-proof so the credit card readers won't be blowing up;).
 
tothemoonsands said:
Do you plan on carrying every day (like a wallet) or is this at-home/longer-term storage?
I just am trying to wrap my head around this accessory since Apple provides FREE card replacements. That means it shouldn't be a problem to replace every year or two (or perhaps more as needed). That said, seems like a legitimate well made wooden product, but it's also quite expensive since you are protecting something that is free to replace.
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I have a wall of Apple Boxes on my desk at work and because I'm a total fanboy / nerd, I already reported my card stolen and have it on display next to my iPod Socks so I thought it'd be cool to have a case for the card. I have no shame in showing off what a nerd I am.

Here's an older photo of my shrine but you get the point:
Ji4AtU7.jpg


It's pretty large now. I keep the Macintosh boxes at home so it's mostly iOS boxes. Everything there I've owned and since I've had every iPod, iPhone and many of the Macs, it's a pretty cool pile of trash.

I joked with co-workers the Apple Card is the first product from Apple with my name on it :)
 
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