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Apple Watch SS Screen Scratches

Vado

Vado

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 30, 2016
150
166
Livingston, United Kingdom
I got an Apple Watch for Christmas (42mm Stainless Steel Space Black with Milanese Loop) I'm worried I've got a problem with it. I've noticed that under certain light and angles the screen on it looks like it has a load of little small scratches all over it. I'm wondering if it could be a manufacturing defect or is it normal?

The screen is Sapphire Glass on the Stainless Steel models and I can't see how these small scratches have happened over 5 days of light use? It's not been scratched or dropped.

Anyone able to advise me or should I get it looked by appointment at the Apple Store?
 
Vado said:
I got an Apple Watch for Christmas (42mm Stainless Steel Space Black with Milanese Loop) I'm worried I've got a problem with it. I've noticed that under certain light and angles the screen on it looks like it has a load of little small scratches all over it. I'm wondering if it could be a manufacturing defect or is it normal?

The screen is Sapphire Glass on the Stainless Steel models and I can't see how these small scratches have happened over 5 days of light use? It's not been scratched or dropped.

Anyone able to advise me or should I get it looked by appointment at the Apple Store?
Click to expand...

Have it looked at. Sapphire is not supposed to scratch. I've had mine a year and zero scratches.
 
A number of people have reported that the DLC coating on the bracelet will scratch the sapphire (and the back of the Watch) as it's harder than sapphire. If the bracelet whipped around and rubbed up against the screen at all it may be that. Someone else noticed this and then realized the pattern of the scratches matched that of the loop bracelet.
 
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Vado said:
I got an Apple Watch for Christmas (42mm Stainless Steel Space Black with Milanese Loop) I'm worried I've got a problem with it. I've noticed that under certain light and angles the screen on it looks like it has a load of little small scratches all over it. I'm wondering if it could be a manufacturing defect or is it normal?

The screen is Sapphire Glass on the Stainless Steel models and I can't see how these small scratches have happened over 5 days of light use? It's not been scratched or dropped.

Anyone able to advise me or should I get it looked by appointment at the Apple Store?
Click to expand...
Please review the following thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/space-black-milanese-loop-scratches-watch.2019023/.
The thread contains information that might be useful for you.
 
Vado said:
I got an Apple Watch for Christmas (42mm Stainless Steel Space Black with Milanese Loop) I'm worried I've got a problem with it. I've noticed that under certain light and angles the screen on it looks like it has a load of little small scratches all over it. I'm wondering if it could be a manufacturing defect or is it normal?

The screen is Sapphire Glass on the Stainless Steel models and I can't see how these small scratches have happened over 5 days of light use? It's not been scratched or dropped.

Anyone able to advise me or should I get it looked by appointment at the Apple Store?
Click to expand...

Saphirre is fairly resilient. That said, it can scratch. As @ajm222 stated, the Milanese loop can scratch it perhaps if it came into contact with the screen. If you're within your 14 day return period, you can exchange it. Otherwise, if you're out of the return, You be looking at a replacement device or unless you purchased AppleCare. There's not much a genius appointment at Apple could do for you with the scratched screen.
 
Just decided to call Apple rather than book an appointment at the Genius Bar, as the earliest appointment I could get was Friday 6th.
I explained the situation that the watch was ordered and delivered back in November but only opened on Christmas Day and that at certain angles and in certain light the screen looks to have multiple light scratches on it's face.
The Customer Service rep immediately consulted second line support, who I was passed on to and they have arranged a return and replacement with a brand new watch.

The damaged one should be uplifted on Tuesday and the replacement will follow hopefully a few days later. I'm happy with that and can't fault the service at all :cool: :)

Out of interest can anyone recommend a Screen Protector for the Apple Watch? I'm considering one as an extra layer of protection going forward, even though it's Sapphire Glass screen.
 
Vado said:
Just decided to call Apple rather than book an appointment at the Genius Bar, as the earliest appointment I could get was Friday 6th.
I explained the situation that the watch was ordered and delivered back in November but only opened on Christmas Day and that at certain angles and in certain light the screen looks to have multiple light scratches on it's face.
The Customer Service rep immediately consulted second line support, who I was passed on to and they have arranged a return and replacement with a brand new watch.

The damaged one should be uplifted on Tuesday and the replacement will follow hopefully a few days later. I'm happy with that and can't fault the service at all :cool: :)

Out of interest can anyone recommend a Screen Protector for the Apple Watch? I'm considering one as an extra layer of protection going forward, even though it's Sapphire Glass screen.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's awesome. Surprised they could get you a replacement that quick. I'm switching to space black from regular stainless and was told just to order another one and return the current one separately, and won't get the new one until mid January.

For screen protection I used armorsuit, but I would look at Best Skins Ever. They are cheap and have an option that actually adheres partially to the sides of the case (it's a little bigger than the screen and overlaps) which should make it stick much better long term.
 
Vado said:
Just decided to call Apple rather than book an appointment at the Genius Bar, as the earliest appointment I could get was Friday 6th.
I explained the situation that the watch was ordered and delivered back in November but only opened on Christmas Day and that at certain angles and in certain light the screen looks to have multiple light scratches on it's face.
The Customer Service rep immediately consulted second line support, who I was passed on to and they have arranged a return and replacement with a brand new watch.

The damaged one should be uplifted on Tuesday and the replacement will follow hopefully a few days later. I'm happy with that and can't fault the service at all :cool: :)

Out of interest can anyone recommend a Screen Protector for the Apple Watch? I'm considering one as an extra layer of protection going forward, even though it's Sapphire Glass screen.
Click to expand...

I'm not necessarily answer your question, But to your comfort, the sapphires display is really scratch resistant. I'm not sure how long you have owned a stainless Apple Watch for, but I'd be willing to say be very difficult to scratch it or pending how you subjected to scratches.

But I do not own Milanese loop, that others have claimed issue scratching the casing or display.
 
I haven't really heard many reports about obvious scratches to the oleophobic coating. Most thst have the sapphire report unblemished screens. That said, I've only had mine for a week and have been using a screen protector. So no personal experience here.
 
Vado said:
Is there anyway you can stop that happening? I have my replacement watch arriving next week.
Click to expand...
Removing the coating is the only way you can be 100% positive it won't scuff. Not that big of a deal since the coating will be all but gone in a year's use anyway.
 
ajm222 said:
I haven't really heard many reports about obvious scratches to the oleophobic coating. Most thst have the sapphire report unblemished screens. That said, I've only had mine for a week and have been using a screen protector. So no personal experience here.
Click to expand...

Fairly difficult to scratch the Saphirre Display. I have only seen a few cases at best where it happened. Usually from someone falling on pavement.
 
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I was about to say, I've had a SS since launch and one of my concerns was about scratches as I do a lot of hill & mountain running so its used in all weathers and terrains etc. The SS body of the watch has picked up those micro abrasions you get with any SS watch, but the screen is absolutely unmarked. And I know I've hit it off different surfaces over that time, so I'm really impressed with how its holding up.
 
BSben said:
From day one my (Series0) Apple Watch was a fingerprint magnet, and it never had even the slightest scratch. Did the first batch not have any coating?
Click to expand...

Did you have the stainless model with the Sapphire display or the sport model with the Ion-X Glass?
 
I'm pretty sure its the coating but can't hurt to have it checked out. Can you feel the scratches with your fingernail?

On another note personally I think putting a case or screen protector on a 316L SS watch with sapphire crystal is ridiculous. I think this paradigm comes from the fact many do this with phones etc. How many Rolexes, Tags, Omegas etc have you seen with a case/screen protector etc?
 
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BSben said:
Sorry, should have specified, it is the Sapphire screen.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately fingerprints are always a problem on Touch displays. But I don't think it's that much of an issue depending on the lighting conditions.
 
Vado said:
I got an Apple Watch for Christmas (42mm Stainless Steel Space Black with Milanese Loop) I'm worried I've got a problem with it. I've noticed that under certain light and angles the screen on it looks like it has a load of little small scratches all over it. I'm wondering if it could be a manufacturing defect or is it normal?

The screen is Sapphire Glass on the Stainless Steel models and I can't see how these small scratches have happened over 5 days of light use? It's not been scratched or dropped.

Anyone able to advise me or should I get it looked by appointment at the Apple Store?
Click to expand...

Make sure they're actually scratches over grease/debris. I've seen some things that seemed like scratches on mine, but ended up being something on the screen rather than damage.

After over a year of daily wear, my SS S0 still has a flawless screen, and I'm not even remotely gentle with it. I have a very active, outdoors-centric lifestyle, and it's stood up to everything I've thrown at it, and then some.
 
I had my Apple Watch picked up on Tuesday by UPS. My replacement has a delivery estimate of between 13th - 18th January. I was told that this could improve, and hoped it would be the case.

Roll on today and I just received an email saying my replacement has shipped. Might be with me tomorrow depending on the courier but more likely on Monday :D

With the comments others have made I think it was more scratches on the oleophobic coating as I couldn't feel any physical scratches on the screen. However I wasn't going or willing to risk it when paying what I did for the watch.

I'm still unsure what to do regarding screen protection. I've paid for a Sapphire Screen with added scratch resistance so shouldn't need a screen protector as with other high end watches Rolexes, Tags, Omegas and haven't had a need to use on my iPhone for many years.
 
Vado said:
Just decided to call Apple rather than book an appointment at the Genius Bar, as the earliest appointment I could get was Friday 6th.
I explained the situation that the watch was ordered and delivered back in November but only opened on Christmas Day and that at certain angles and in certain light the screen looks to have multiple light scratches on it's face.
The Customer Service rep immediately consulted second line support, who I was passed on to and they have arranged a return and replacement with a brand new watch.

The damaged one should be uplifted on Tuesday and the replacement will follow hopefully a few days later. I'm happy with that and can't fault the service at all :cool: :)

Out of interest can anyone recommend a Screen Protector for the Apple Watch? I'm considering one as an extra layer of protection going forward, even though it's Sapphire Glass screen.
Click to expand...

I just purchased a screen protector from Amazon and I am happy with the result.

IMG_0026.JPG
 
Vado said:
I had my Apple Watch picked up on Tuesday by UPS. My replacement has a delivery estimate of between 13th - 18th January. I was told that this could improve, and hoped it would be the case.

Roll on today and I just received an email saying my replacement has shipped. Might be with me tomorrow depending on the courier but more likely on Monday :D

With the comments others have made I think it was more scratches on the oleophobic coating as I couldn't feel any physical scratches on the screen. However I wasn't going or willing to risk it when paying what I did for the watch.

I'm still unsure what to do regarding screen protection. I've paid for a Sapphire Screen with added scratch resistance so shouldn't need a screen protector as with other high end watches Rolexes, Tags, Omegas and haven't had a need to use on my iPhone for many years.
Click to expand...

Personally, I would not put a screen protector on the Sapphire display. For a couple reasons. Number one, it just looks cheap to me in my opinion. Number two, I don't think it's needed and I have never had a single hairline scratch on the screen on my stainless model. They hold up fairly well and sapphires worth the price tag to me alone on the stainless model.
 
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