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Both Aluminum and SS has sapphire crystal face?

thatappleguytoday

thatappleguytoday

macrumors 601
Original poster
Feb 9, 2006
4,161
9,072
Jacksonville, FL
i ask because I see no signs of it being a “feature” like previous models and even official Apple tech specs page doesn’t mention it. gsmarena both versions have same face. Looking for some confirmation on this important detail.

Thanks
 
map1978 said:
i ask because I see no signs of it being a “feature” like previous models and even official Apple tech specs page doesn’t mention it. gsmarena both versions have same face. Looking for some confirmation on this important detail.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Aluminum has the glass. SS has the sapphire. Under tech specs on the apple store app it lists ion x glass for the aluminum and sapphire for the SS
 
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The SS does have Sapphire, and YES it is odd that Apple to does not heavily advertise it. Some posts around suggest the Sapphire is of low quality so that is why Apple does not promote it much?
 
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map1978 said:
Ion X was series 3 no word of sapphire anywhere for series 4
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Yes it does
 

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madgalaxy said:
The SS does have Sapphire, and YES it is odd that Apple to does not heavily advertise it. Some posts around suggest the Sapphire is of low quality so that is why Apple does not promote it much?
Click to expand...

In fairness, Apple doesn’t really promote the Ion– X Glass either. I think they advocate the most notable features of the Apple Watch that the consumer would care about, not the technical specifications to what kind of displays are used for materials.
 
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I doubt Apple would not advertise sapphire cause of low quality. That’s such a weird thing to do, and I haven’t seen any evidence they are lower quality either. The basis for this claim is some scratched display units.

The first watch also had some scratches on sapphire from time to time. I’m sure if you look up some threads here you’ll find scratch complaints on prior sapphire displays too.

What puzzles me is why they’d make the casing the only advertised selling point. It’s like you’re paying a $200 premium for the color and case material.

Openly adverting the screen difference at least gives you one more I’d say important reason to consider the steel over aluminum if you can afford it.

Perhaps advertising how durable the sapphire displays are made some buyers who could afford aluminum but not steel delay their purchase for fear they wouldn’t be getting a durable display.
 
Gregintosh said:
I doubt Apple would not advertise sapphire cause of low quality. That’s such a weird thing to do, and I haven’t seen any evidence they are lower quality either. The basis for this claim is some scratched display units.

The first watch also had some scratches on sapphire from time to time. I’m sure if you look up some threads here you’ll find scratch complaints on prior sapphire displays too.

What puzzles me is why they’d make the casing the only advertised selling point. It’s like you’re paying a $200 premium for the color and case material.

Openly adverting the screen difference at least gives you one more I’d say important reason to consider the steel over aluminum if you can afford it.

Perhaps advertising how durable the sapphire displays are made some buyers who could afford aluminum but not steel delay their purchase for fear they wouldn’t be getting a durable display.
Click to expand...
Search for the test of it by Jerry Rig Everything on YouTube. It's not fully real Saphire..
 
Scott G. said:
Search for the test of it by Jerry Rig Everything on YouTube. It's not fully real Saphire..
Click to expand...

Search for the test of it by consumer reports that says it is sapphire.

All I know is I tried a sport and it had scratches after a weekend and I have owned sapphire since right after launch and have zero scratches. I absolutely abuse my SS watch too.
 
Ion x Glass vs Sapphire
Both glasses have their advantages and disadvantages. The Ion x glass from Apple has the advantage that it is simply much more flexible than the sapphire. Tests show that the ion x glass can withstand 2.5 times more weight in a bend than the sapphire. If you drop an Apple Watch with Ion x glass, the display does not crack quite as fast as an Apple Watch with sapphire. The Ion X glass also has the advantage of being much lighter and cheaper. That’s why Apple uses it in the cheap Apple Watch sports variant. The big drawback with the Ion X glass is, unfortunately, that it is easier to scratch. It is scratch resistance to keys or coins though. The sapphire has the advantage that it is very difficult to scratch. The sapphire has a 9 in degree of hardness, which is directly below the diamond with the degree of 10. It is therefore about 25% stronger than the ion x glass, as far as this point is concerned. Unfortunately the sapphire is much more expensive and is not as flexible as the Ion x glass. If you weigh it, you will notice that it is 67% heavier. -excerpt from glaz


Sapphire is only 25% stronger than ion x glass.
 
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Scott G. said:
Search for the test of it by Jerry Rig Everything on YouTube. It's not fully real Saphire..
Click to expand...

Two things:

1,) It’s not always necessary to tell some to ‘search for something’, when you could provide a link for them to read it and back up your own claim.

2.) The Sapphire composition that Apple is using likely isn’t the highest grade possible, it might have impurities, just like a diamond would also, but still comprises of a sapphire coating to protect the display enough against _most_ daily activities.
 
edhchoe said:
Ion x Glass vs Sapphire
Both glasses have their advantages and disadvantages. The Ion x glass from Apple has the advantage that it is simply much more flexible than the sapphire. Tests show that the ion x glass can withstand 2.5 times more weight in a bend than the sapphire. If you drop an Apple Watch with Ion x glass, the display does not crack quite as fast as an Apple Watch with sapphire. The Ion X glass also has the advantage of being much lighter and cheaper. That’s why Apple uses it in the cheap Apple Watch sports variant. The big drawback with the Ion X glass is, unfortunately, that it is easier to scratch. It is scratch resistance to keys or coins though. The sapphire has the advantage that it is very difficult to scratch. The sapphire has a 9 in degree of hardness, which is directly below the diamond with the degree of 10. It is therefore about 25% stronger than the ion x glass, as far as this point is concerned. Unfortunately the sapphire is much more expensive and is not as flexible as the Ion x glass. If you weigh it, you will notice that it is 67% heavier. -excerpt from glaz


Sapphire is only 25% stronger than ion x glass.
Click to expand...

It's not stronger at all. It's actually more brittle.

Sapphire is 25% more scratch resistant, which is not a measure of strength.
 
Both have ceramic and sapphire back. Lot of people got SS last year just for the sapphire on the heart sensor. This year's they both have sapphire on the back.
 
As far as I remember, back in 2015 when the very first Watch was released, I first bought the SS edition and then returned it for a Sports Edition Watch. The sapphire screen had lees readability in the direct sunlight! I think it was even mentioned a couple of times by different sources as well.
 
Relentless Power said:
Two things:

1,) It’s not always necessary to tell some to ‘search for something’, when you could provide a link for them to read it and back up your own claim.

2.) The Sapphire composition that Apple is using likely isn’t the highest grade possible, it might have impurities, just like a diamond would also, but still comprises of a sapphire coating to protect the display enough against _most_ daily activities.
Click to expand...
It's a video, not an article, and it's pretty easy to find buy searching on YouTube..
 
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