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Apple Watch Display Quality Judged 'Excellent', Calibrated to Match iPhone 6
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Actually according to 9to5mac the 7000 series aluminum is harder than the 316L stainless steel.
That's not to say, though, that the aluminum can't scratch. And if it does it can't be buffed away as easily as the polished stainless steel.
Sandpaper, no - those videos are ridiculous, but an occasional brush up against a wall won't be unexpected.
Steel being harder than aluminum is less relevant in the case of the watch. The more relevant issue is brushed vs polished. Polished stainless is almost criminally easy to scratch. Fortunately there are polishes to remedy the scratches. Unfortunately for the uninitiated, metal polish needs a delicate hand. I worry that some will, in a desperate effort to remove a scratch, be a little too exuberant with their rubbing. Also one must remember, metal polish is an abrasive; not meant for frequent use. And please be careful around the ports.
Brushed, whether aluminum or steel, visually absorbs nicks and scratches better because of it's finish. Those with SS watches should just accept small scratches as the nature of the beast. Enjoy the watch and don't worry so much. Anyone who regularly wears watches will tell you, scratches gonna happen.
Yes, I've worn watches most of my life. They scratch. No big deal. The link band is brushed for that very reason.
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They are wrong.
I agree - After using the watch for the weekend I agree with very little in his "review".
I'm not going to be editing photos on my watch so that doesn't bother me. I'll use it to change music, fitness, and notifications. It could be black and white for all I care.
+1 There is a reason why, most decent to high end watches have Stainless Steel + Sapphire Crystal combos, some higher end watches use Titanium casings, but I don't see aluminum being used anywhere for watches priced $1-4k+ range.
Is it possible you misinterpreted the chart?
The right column of the chart is for the screen of an iPhone6, not an iWatch with Ion-X glass. (And in the original report, the iPhone6 screen had horrendous off-angle performance at just 30 degrees!)
The right column of the chart is for the screen of an iPhone6, not an iWatch with Ion-X glass. (And in the original report, the iPhone6 screen had horrendous off-angle performance at just 30 degrees!)
i know, right?! i have NEVER scratched an iPhone. and i've had every one since day one. yes, i don't slam them in my pocket with my keys, but neither do i baby them or think at all about not 'scratching my poor phone'... they don't scratch easily. or at all in my case. to say that ion-x scratches easily is ludicrous. look, people, don't fret. get the watch you want. or don't. and just... do it. it's supposed to make you pay more attention to your life, not your watch. LOL! so much fretting, so little time..... will the day ever come when people sortof, maybe, just kinda like... TRUST apple for a second? to design and sell something, like, good, and well thought out and stuff...? huh?? lord a mercy. how peeps after all this time still have some notion that apple is trying to pull one over on consumers is way beyond me; as apple has shown time and time again that they have nothing but respect and devote orders of magnitude more time, effort and money into making something good for the user -- this was steve's maxim -- than probably any other company on the planet. yes, they charge a lot. yes, they make a super tidy profit. well, that's capitalism for ya. should they charge less. eh, debatable. as far as the watch is concerned, the only real issue is the insane price of the gold editions. but, that's a special case. sort of a marketing snaggle in my opinion, but they're riding it out. the fact is the sport, which 90+% of buyers opted for, unsurprisingly, is priced just fine. for apple. and for hot **** smartwatches in general. and certainly for watches. heck, you can spend that much on 'dumb' watches that won't be worth it in any way comparatively. i have several watches, ranging from, well, from the apple watch sport, to pretty dang fancy swiss things at more than ten times the sport price. their watches sit very nicely in the overall spectrum. if you are a person who can barely afford a subsidized iPhone when new.. well, then yes, this watch is pricey. (and no offense whatsoever, i was there once too, we all were.. well, not ALL, but most of us...) but, really, it's not beyond the pale in price when looked at in context. the edition throws the picture off balance, grist for the bitch mill. anyway. sooooo, ot. /babble.
I haven't used apple pay on it yet but I did use rewards card barcodes from passbook. That's pretty freaking awesome to be in a store and have the watch pull up your rewards card code and they can scan it from your wrist!
Personally, all the talk about a slight scratch to the screen or a slight mark in the aluminium would be vastly more important if you were talking about a product you are going to be keeping for 5 to 10 years.
Seeing as most are expecting to be throwing it away after 12 months, this all seems rather irrelevant right now.
If we were in Apple Watch v10 and the past 3 or 4 revisions had been so minor that they were running out of things to change, almost like the iPad is becoming, and you were planning on keeping your Apple watch 10 for many many years, as progress has almost come to a stop, then this would all be more important.
But now?
Before you know it, in a blink of an eye, it will be the end of this year and all the talk will be of the new model, and none of this will matter for many.
Seeing as most are expecting to be throwing it away after 12 months, this all seems rather irrelevant right now.
If we were in Apple Watch v10 and the past 3 or 4 revisions had been so minor that they were running out of things to change, almost like the iPad is becoming, and you were planning on keeping your Apple watch 10 for many many years, as progress has almost come to a stop, then this would all be more important.
But now?
Before you know it, in a blink of an eye, it will be the end of this year and all the talk will be of the new model, and none of this will matter for many.
This is my concern, I have worn a watch since I was in 6th grade, and when I purchase a watch, I purchase them for 5+ years, I'm really hoping that they are not releasing a watch every year, or even one every other year, but we will get to know this soon, I don't think people who are spending $500+ will get a new one every year, these are not subzidized phones, these are full priced accessories, they shouldn't be released as soon as an iPhone, especially when they are being released at the price point they are at.
Normally I would ask for a source, because just saying someone is wrong without justification or proof is annoying in a forum like this.
Instead I did a quick search myself and found that on Rockwell B's Hardness scale, 7000 series aluminum's rates at 87 and 316L SS rates at 95. So it appears that they are wrong, and the SS is harder than 7000 series aluminum.
It was just a quick search but enough for me for now.
References:
http://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=MA7075T6
https://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/stainless-steel-grade-composition-chart.pdf
Yup, you can! It's been answered a few times here. If you have been to a certain wi-fi hotspot before with your phone, then you can leave your phone off or at another location and when you are back at that prior spot with your Watch, you can send and receive texts and emails! It's amazing! No calls though.
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Apple Pay on the Watch is just about the coolest thing I have done with an electronic device...
Hardness and the ease of showing up a scratch between a matt anodised aluminium finish and high polished stainless is very very different.
As I say, we use this metal at work.
And polish it to a finish at LEAST as good as the Apple watch.
Mirror perfect, under a light with 10x magnification, there much be no sign of anything.
We wrap the parts in individual soft cloths, as you only have to place it on a surface and push it along and it will mark and show up.
Think how the back of an iPad or iPhone scratches in reality against an old iPod with a mirror stainless back.
Mirror polished is super soft and a scratch magnet.
It's hard, strong and tough yes, but so amazingly easy to mark.
Yes, I do ask if those are worth it. The answer is "not at all", and so I end up with a $20 Casio. It's water resistant, it gives time in 24 hour, and it has a backlight.
At the time I bought it (6+ years ago), I also considered the alarm and stopwatch useful. Since then I've always just done that kind of thing on my iPhone.
I've seen enough features/apps on the Apple Watch to justify somewhere around $200. Can't justify $350 yet.
How do you send emails from the watch? I was told by Apple that you couldn't answer emails from the watch.
Understood. For your use-case, it's not quite there yet. That makes perfect sense. These are early days.
But: Soon. Just as with the iPhone, it's the app ecosystem that will compel. And the pace will be very fast.
So it's worthwhile for those of us on-the-fence or even on the not-buying side of it to consider what functionality would tip us over to the buy side. Perhaps in so doing, you or someone like you will be the one to invent the killer app for this category.
I for one am looking forward to the show! Really, it's a privilege to witness the unfolding of a whole new class of tool.
The watch display is very nice. Those who haven't seen it and are curious should check it out when they get a chance.
That's the hardness of the raw aluminum. Anodization, and perhaps Apple's own improved anodization, increases its hardness. Also your reference doesn't account for Apple's forging process which is also supposed to increase the hardness.