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Why no sapphire crystal for aluminium Apple Watches?
- Thread starter Tapiture
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It's because the Sport watch is a lower tier product.
The sapphire is a more more premium material and therefore it goes on their more premium product.
My 1st gen Apple Watch SPACE back SS is still flawless even after a year and a half.
I think there are people who get the sport model not because it’s less expensive but because they are more active and need a watch that they can put through hell. The Stainless Steel models are designed and marketed more as stylish, high-end timepieces and not as much for sports and heavy activity. So it doesn’t really make sense that the sport models don’t have the hardier screen like the fashionable models have.
I live in Arizona. The sun is always out and insanely bright. Never had an issue reading my S0 stainless steel Watch or even my phone. I believe the Sapphire crystal in the Apple Watch has an anti reflective coating like most high end Swiss Watches with sapphire crystal.
And this is exactly the same argument with the Garmin sport watches. The bottom tier watches have non-sapphire screens while only the very top tier watches have the sapphire. At least because the screen is entirely flat it is possible to purchase a screen protector which will mitigate any accidental damage.
Sapphire is more brittle and prone to shattering. IonX isn't so by your logic it makes more sense to put ion X glass in a product marketed to more activity.
Don't confuse scratch resistance with durability.
Hm, that’s interesting. I just assumed it was more durable. Here’s an article about the difference between sapphire crystal and glass: https://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/29/sapphire-gorilla-glass/
I wish there was something with the durability of gorilla glass and the scratch resistance of sapphire crystal.
But the thing is if apple did put the sapphire on the aluminum watch then you probably be complaining that the aluminum watch cost about the same as the SS watch.
You have to give up something in the materials or function for the cheaper price.
It's just the way it is
I thought Corning made a new Gorilla Glass that kept the durability and had almost sapphire crystal scratch resistance.
Planned obsolesce... You can't blame Apple, they're cash strapped!
On a related note - I kind of find it galling that Apple uses a composite back on ANY watches anymore. Terrible wear over the course of a year or two. I liken it to shipping an iPhone with 16GB of memory.
On a related note - I kind of find it galling that Apple uses a composite back on ANY watches anymore. Terrible wear over the course of a year or two. I liken it to shipping an iPhone with 16GB of memory.
Although that's true about sapphire being prone to shattering, I would say most don't drop their Apple Watch as they with do with their iPhone. Because the Apple Watch is strapped to the wrist. That said, I remember when the Apple Watch was launched and it was discussed that the Ion-X Glass was supposed to be as durable as the iPhone display at the time. And as somebody who owned the sport watch from the beginning, I was not impressed with how easily it scratched, and I was somebody that was fairly cautious with it. Which is why I made the transition to the sapphire display on the stainless, and it's flawless.
I understand the trade-off between both models and what you will receive the more expensive stainless model, but I don't agree that the Ion-X Glass on the sport model is nearly as durable and scratch resistant as the iPhone display was. That's just from my experiences.
I got a S0 for Christmas 2 years ago. Four days later, I fell on a staircase and my wrist hit the edge of a step. Since then, my AW has had this very minor scratch on its upper right corner. But apart from that, the watch is absolutely scratch-free, and I use it all the time - except to sleep and to go swimming.