Sapphire Apple Watch easily breakble

[odedia]

Mine happened to fall from waist level (while removing the watch), this is what happened.

Two side cracks, one big vertical crack.

Luckily I have AppleCare+. Still, it's 80$ to replace and I have to wait two weeks for the replacement one.

Don't count on the Sapphire display for anything other than scratch protection. If anything, the sports model might even be better at falls with its gorilla glass.

 

[Gav2k]

I'd disagree. My watch gets smacked daily with no ill effects.

 

[convergent]

I thought if you had AC+ that you could call and they'd ship you a replacement with a big to return the broken one? And $80 with AC+? What's the cost to replace the screen without AC+?

 

[maflynn]

Don't count on the Sapphire display for anything other than scratch protection. If anything, the sports model might even be better at falls with its gorilla glass.

Yep, there's a number of youtube videos showing how the sapphire AW, shattering when dropped and the sports model surviving. The sapphire is more scratch resistant but is less shatter proof.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Like the above poster said, the sapphire is harder and more resistant to scratches but make it also more crack prone. Still worth every penny in my opinion.

 

[Cowboy1629]

Never used it but have read several posts on here that you can get an overnight express replacement with Apple Care+, is that not true? Two weeks is a long time!

 

[maflynn]

Never used it but have read several posts on here that you can get an overnight express replacement with Apple Care+, is that not true? Two weeks is a long time!

I read somewhere that apple does not do fast replacements of the watch. Maybe they repair them as opposed to replacing it. I don't know, but the 2 week windows is not unusual it seems

 

[robertk328]

I read somewhere that apple does not do fast replacements of the watch. Maybe they repair them as opposed to replacing it. I don't know, but the 2 week windows is not unusual it seems

I've seen cases where they have so who knows? Guess it depends on who you talk to but doesn't seem like they would not have just one policy.

Seeing things like this it seems like maybe keeping the Sport is the way to go. I have a screen protector (Skinomi) on it that I'm happy with so that helps.

 

[barjam]

Odds of me dropping the watch on hard tile or similar pretty remote. The odds of me scratching a soft glass screen 100%. I have owned glass screen watches before, never again.

Either way Apple care is damn near mandatory on this thing.

 

[maflynn]

Odds of me dropping the watch on hard tile or similar pretty remote. The odds of me scratching a soft glass screen 100%. I have owned glass screen watches before, never again.

I'm the opposite, I think risk of catastrophic failure (shattering) is too high, where as you can easily mitigate the scratch issues if the ion glass (screen protector).

Either way Apple care is damn near mandatory on this thing.

Agreed, given the replacement price of the AW, its a no brainer to spend a little more for peace of mind

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

I'm the opposite, I think risk of catastrophic failure (shattering) is too high, where as you can easily mitigate the scratch issues if the ion glass (screen protector)

You can easily mitigate the risk of dropping it if you get into the habit of always removing and putting on your AW over your bed. The OP wouldn't have happened had this been done.

Either way Apple care is damn near mandatory on this thing.

I'd argue that it's less mandatory compared to purchasing AC+ for the iPhone. It's waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes so any accidental water ingress would be replaced under the standard warranty. It's tethered to the wrist so it's less likely to fly out of your hand as with iPhone. In the pre-AW days, people had their iPhones out basically all the time so it's not like the AW is that much more exposed (and many skipped buying AC+ for iPhone).

 

[BarracksSi]

I'm trying to not pick on the OP, so I'm making this just a generalized quote...

Mine happened to fall from waist level (while removing the watch), …

Can't we just say, "I dropped my watch."?

I mean, I've gotten pretty good at safely handling mine with its sport strap (knock on wood!), but if I drop it, I'll say that I dropped it.

If I plan on dropping a watch, I'll wear my G-Shock, of course. But I usually don't plan on dropping any of my watches, so I try to keep a good grip on them all the time.

Do we need a tutorial on how to best use the sport strap?

 

[Gav2k]

You can get an express replacement on Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad. They put a hold on your credit card and if you do not ship back in 10 days they take the value of the replacement device.

 

[Cowboy1629]

You can get an express replacement on Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad. They put a hold on your credit card and if you do not ship back in 10 days they take the value of the replacement device.

That's what I would do rather than waiting 14 days for a replacement.

 

[odedia]

I thought if you had AC+ that you could call and they'd ship you a replacement with a big to return the broken one? And $80 with AC+? What's the cost to replace the screen without AC+?

329$

 

[odedia]

You can get an express replacement on Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad. They put a hold on your credit card and if you do not ship back in 10 days they take the value of the replacement device.

Perhaps. I just took it in to an Apple Store thinking that would be the best and fastest possible service. I was wrong.

 

[maxsix]

Mine happened to fall from waist level (while removing the watch), this is what happened.

Two side cracks, one big vertical crack.

Luckily I have AppleCare+. Still, it's 80$ to replace and I have to wait two weeks for the replacement one.

Don't count on the Sapphire display for anything other than scratch protection. If anything, the sports model might even be better at falls with its gorilla glass.

So sorry that this happened to your AW.

Thanks for posting a very clear high quality photo of the damage.

I have several luxury timepieces in my collection, all with high quality Sapphire Crystals. I can assure anyone that not only does Sapphire come in a few quality grades, but various thicknesses as well. It's the standard material for all watches priced at approx $7,500 and higher. There's also some models under that figure that come with Sapphire.

Apple has a world class team of engineers. I'm shocked that they would make a mistake so significant. With Apples resources and their compliant customer base that will buy with little regard for price, it's quite odd that they failed to choose the right Sapphire to insure it would not break.

My Rolex Submariner is a watch I wear regularly when Scuba Diving which I do frequently since I live on the beach. That's my knock around watch that gets smacked on coral and all sorts of things. It's bracelet and watch case have plenty of scratches yet the crystal looks new. Apple should have insured theirs had the same strength.

 

[maflynn]

Apple has a world class team of engineers. I'm shocked that they would make a mistake so significant. With Apples resources and their compliant customer base that will buy with little regard for price, it's quite odd that they failed to choose the right Sapphire to insure it would not break.

Maybe there are technical reasons, such as a thicker crystal will increase the weight, and given the innards, they thought it would be too heavy, or perhaps it would affect the touch screen.

 

[Expidia]

I noted in another thread that I was on the fence about applecare for the watch, but after reading threads like these with only a week to go for the 60 window closing I bought applecare coverage for mine and another one for the watch I bought as a gift for my brother.

Why anyone would put their watch on over a hard surface like a bathroom or kitchen floor is only flirting with disaster?

I also remember years ago when I used to wear glass faced watches movado, seiko etc I always seemed to get a few scratches on the faces, but never could remember how it happened after I saw them.

And even though I purchased both watches on a credit card which extends the normal apple warranty it would seem to me that applecare would be a lot easier to use than chase down mastercard for a replacement credit.

Has anyone ever used their credit card extended waranty for an apple watch yet? What was your experience?

 

[maflynn]

I think AC is a no brainer for the apple watch. Stuff happens and at least this protects you from stupid things that can occur.

 

[andreyirra]

Excuse the interruption but what blue band is that? Is it the lightning? It looks different from the original blue color. Is it the new one or a third party one?

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

So sorry that this happened to your AW.

Thanks for posting a very clear high quality photo of the damage.

I have several luxury timepieces in my collection, all with high quality Sapphire Crystals. I can assure anyone that not only does Sapphire come in a few quality grades, but various thicknesses as well. It's the standard material for all watches priced at approx $7,500 and higher. There's also some models under that figure that come with Sapphire.

Apple has a world class team of engineers. I'm shocked that they would make a mistake so significant. With Apples resources and their compliant customer base that will buy with little regard for price, it's quite odd that they failed to choose the right Sapphire to insure it would not break.

My Rolex Submariner is a watch I wear regularly when Scuba Diving which I do frequently since I live on the beach. That's my knock around watch that gets smacked on coral and all sorts of things. It's bracelet and watch case have plenty of scratches yet the crystal looks new. Apple should have insured theirs had the same strength.

Your post doesn't make too much sense. If you do a search you'll find photos of shattered Rolexes. The AW being more prone to shattering has more to do with its design, which has exposed glass edge. It's naturally more vulnerable by design, no different from the all glass iPhone 4/4s.

Finally, if there's a difference in sapphire quality, do you really expect a $750 AW to have the same strength sapphire crystal as a $7,500 Rolex?

 

[BarracksSi]

Fwiw, my Citizen has a sapphire crystal, and it had an msrp around $450.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Both the sapphire and non-sapphire crystals will break. The advantage of the sapphire is it holds up better to scratches. If you like you stuff to stay looking new the sapphire and stainless is the way to go but it cost more. There is always a trade off!

 

[dljor]

can we buy applecare + from target? They have it for 40 dollars here:

http://www.target.com/p/applecare-f...0977#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=applecare+watch