Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is any different between the aluminum, titanium, steel beside the metals, and bands
- Thread starter AndyMers
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Sapphire glass on the Steel and Titanium. Ion-X on the Aluminium.
Put another way, if you get Aluminum, you will likely end up with scratched glass in a fairly short period of time. If you get SS or Ti, your display will likely stay flawless. I've only owned the SS and have bumped my watch against doorknobs and granite counter tops and never had the slightest mark on the crystal.
Watches inevitably get bumped around and to me sapphire is essential.
Watches inevitably get bumped around and to me sapphire is essential.
My S3 was aluminum. Scratched after a month… switched to stainless steel with s4. Still looks like new.
When I had my aluminium one, I just used one of those film screen protectors and it was fine, no scratches when I sold it a couple of years later.
I have mostly had aluminum sport or Nike watches, I bump into things a lot, and I do a lot of work with tools and various types of equipment. I have never had a scratch that affected either use or trade-in value of my aluminum watches.
And there are trade-offs. The sapphire layer (it's not a full sapphire crystal, that is not possible with a touch screen) does reduce the likelihood of scratches, but it is also somewhat more likely to shatter. In S6 and earlier, it also had really noticeable reflection issues in sunlight that could make reading the watch harder. I will say, though, that I picked up a SS S7 on Friday and the reflection issue seems to have been eliminated. That was never a hard problem to solve - Apple just needed to put an AR coating on the sapphire displays. It seems like they finally did that.
I’ve had SS since s0 and have never had either a scratch or a reflection issue.
Admittedly I based on comment on what a lot of people with aluminum watches report on this forum. Scratching of the body and Ion-X glass is a common complaint. But everyone treats their watches differently. The only aluminum watch I ever owned was the original Series 0 for one week until I realized I wanted stainless and swapped it at Apple. Haven't had an aluminum one since.
Regarding SS, I treat my devices well but I wear my watch full time while awake and have accidentally hit it hard on doorknobs, granite countertops, and other various objects over the years. I keep my watch for about 3 years between upgrades. I have never had even the slightest blemish on my sapphire crystal nor any issues with cracking/shattering. The SS body gets marks over time which can mostly be polished out with a SS polishing cloth/paste. I'm careful when I polish not to rub the display edges to avoid any kind of abrasion. I've been extremely happy with the durability of the SS/sapphire overall.
The MOST durable apole watch is the black stainless one, because sapphire and ceramic on front and back, and the steel is all coated with ADLC (amorphous diamond like carbon). So those watches are pretty indestructible and maintenance free. Normal stainless will have microscratche, but that’s just the nature of stainless and can always be polished away.
I’m not totally sure how the coloring is done on the titanium ones, but my black titanium has been just as durable for me as the stainless ones in my experience. But it is admittedly quite hard to accidentally strike the metal part of the Watch hard enough to do damage while wearing it.
The sapphire is totally worth it imo. I’ve seen 2 friends ionx watches where the lens was all jacked up. I’ve smacked the sapphire into the corners of various types of countertops, door knobs, metal rails on stairs, etc. and hard too. Never a mark. now that said, I’ve often considered a cheapy alu one just to wear at home/sleep so I can keep the main one on the charger. Total waste of money but the stainless in particular is quite thicc. Titanium vs Alu is closer, but I’m pretty sure it’s still heavier.
Main thing to make sure you remember, the price difference is so extreme, you could just buy 2 alu watches for the price of a steel/titanium one basically. And then just baby one.
I’m not totally sure how the coloring is done on the titanium ones, but my black titanium has been just as durable for me as the stainless ones in my experience. But it is admittedly quite hard to accidentally strike the metal part of the Watch hard enough to do damage while wearing it.
The sapphire is totally worth it imo. I’ve seen 2 friends ionx watches where the lens was all jacked up. I’ve smacked the sapphire into the corners of various types of countertops, door knobs, metal rails on stairs, etc. and hard too. Never a mark. now that said, I’ve often considered a cheapy alu one just to wear at home/sleep so I can keep the main one on the charger. Total waste of money but the stainless in particular is quite thicc. Titanium vs Alu is closer, but I’m pretty sure it’s still heavier.
Main thing to make sure you remember, the price difference is so extreme, you could just buy 2 alu watches for the price of a steel/titanium one basically. And then just baby one.
The Ti watch is actually closer in weight to the SS than the aluminum watches - Apple lists the following weights for the 45mm S7 watches:
38.8 grams (Aluminum, GPS, GPS + Cellular)
51.5 grams (Stainless Steel)
45.1 grams (Titanium)
38.8 grams (Aluminum, GPS, GPS + Cellular)
51.5 grams (Stainless Steel)
45.1 grams (Titanium)