Why glass in Apple Watch is preferable to sapphire. Steel Apple Watch vs. Aluminum Sport: Everything you need to know about them
In 2014, at the next presentation, the public were presented Apple Watch. The smartwatch was made in three variations:
- Classic.
- Sport.
- Edition.
Many users have a question: what exactly is the difference between Apple Watch: classic, Edition, Sport from each other, since after the presentation the gadgets created a real stir. It is worth noting that the company has not announced anything like this before, and even in several variations. Photo: How do Apple Watches differ from each other? Note that smart watches are one of the few products of the company in the development of which Steve Jobs. The product, developed under the leadership of Tim Cook, took a leading position among its competitors in the very first days of its appearance.
Classic
Classic - basic version gadget made from:
- of stainless steel;
- ceramics.
The watch display is equipped with sapphire protection. For these gadgets the company has developed:
- special processor S1;
- iOS for compact electronics:
- GUI UI is specially adapted for small devices.
The user is presented with . 
Table: How does Apple Watch Classic differ from Sport and Edition? The only way the basic Apple Watch differs from the Sport and Edition is the materials used in the watch itself. Smart gadgets have:
- 38 mm;
- 42 mm.
Conventionally, users designated these two variations as “” and “”. The company also presents six designs of straps from different materials:
- metal;
- skin;
- polyurethane.
Edition
Comparison of VariationsApple Watch: basic,EditionSport, can only be produced according to the material of the product. The technical “stuffing” of all devices is absolutely identical. These gadgets have the highest cost - the base of the case is 18-karat gold, which is several times stronger than usual.
The display, as in the basic configuration, is made of sapphire glass. Also on sale available version from rose gold. The device comes with a special “box” that acts as a charger. 
Sport
The body of this version is a duo of anodized aluminum and composite material. The company also took care of protecting the sports model from moisture and dust.
Another difference between Apple Watch andversionSport- glass. Instead of sapphire, Ion-X glass was used - it is not so durable, as evidenced by numerous tests, but it has the best optical characteristics.
Read more about smart watches at the link provided.
They differ not only in materials. Ion-X protective glass has a number of not quite obvious advantages in front of the sapphire.
Glass Ion-X used exclusively in Apple Watch Sport . More expensive watch Apple in steel and gold cases already protected sapphire. As shown by a study conducted by experts DisplayMate, the difference between display protections is not as obvious as it seemed before the start of watch sales. At the same time, we’ll immediately make a reservation that all models use an identical display made using OLED technology.
When directly comparing the two watch models, the difference turned out to be more noticeable and manifested itself in several details. First, the sapphire-protected Apple Watch display reflects 74% more light than Ion-X glass. At lower lighting brightness, the difference is no longer so noticeable. Anyway, in the sun Apple screen Watch Sport will perform better.
Apple Watch with sapphire is 74% more reflective than the Sport model. This means that a steel or gold watch reflects nearly twice as much surrounding objects as an Apple Watch Sport with Ion-X glass. Surprisingly, even a slight increase in lighting brightness makes the difference between display protections clearly noticeable.
Secondly, DisplayMate conducted a special test to evaluate the contrast of displays using sapphire and Ion-X glass. In both cases it was used automatic adjustment backlight brightness. To do this, both watch models were illuminated with increasing intensity, starting from complete darkness to simulating bright sunlight. The contrast of both displays gradually decreased, but its drop on the Apple Watch with sapphire was much more significant. The sports model was again in the lead.
As a result, sapphire in the Apple Watch showed itself as follows: it has a more pronounced reflective effect, and also transmits light worse than Ion-X glass. Of course, no one has canceled the advantages of sapphire: after some time, the screen in a sports model is much more likely to become covered small scratches than in steel or gold models. However, if high contrast and good readability are important to you Apple display Watch in any conditions, you should carefully weigh all the pros and cons of the available models before purchasing. [MacRumors]
Despite what Jony Ive says about how flawless the design is apple watch Watch, no one is immune from problems associated with careless handling of gadgets. Only 3 months have passed since the start of watch sales, but already during this time we have been able to collect statistics on requests from users who need Apple Watch repair. As expected, those most vulnerable to unpleasant encounters with a harsh environment turned out to be protective glass, as is the case with iPhone and iPad. What should you do if your watch screen is broken or cracked? Our friends and colleagues, specialists service center ModMac showed how to carry out the process of replacing a watch display, since they have already been contacted several times with this breakdown.
It is quite difficult to disassemble the Apple Watch, but the main thing is not to damage the device even more! The repair process begins by heating the glass to melt the adhesive. We heat the glass with a special industrial hair dryer.
We remove the screen cable lock and turn it off, after which we turn off the power to the watch by disconnecting the battery. We do this very carefully so as not to damage the thin train.
After that we take new screen and seal it with tape. Please note that the component Force Touch integrated into the screen module itself. We connect the display and carefully snap the cable lock.
Press the screen around the perimeter for more even contact of the tape with the surface - done! While there are huge difficulties with the availability of spare parts for the Apple Watch, the ModMac service was one of the first in Russia to receive original spare parts for a new product.
As you can see, replacing the glass on an Apple Watch Sport is a complex process and not at all cheap. Agree that it is better to avoid this procedure and treat your watch with care. If the sad fate has not escaped you, contact ModMac specialists who will quickly and effectively solve your problem. I would like to add that for readers of the site there is a special 10 percent discount on all repair services not only for Apple Watch, but also for iPhone/iPad and Mac..
Problem solved
Pros: I've been using the watch for about a week. Before this there were Xiaomi Mi Band 2 and Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro, so there is something to compare this device with. Of the real advantages: 1. Design. Whatever they say, Apple has found a middle ground between futuristic devices a la “the future through the eyes of people from the 80s” from Pebble and “ regular watch, you can’t tell the difference,” like the Samsung Gear S3. Plus, aggressive marketing always blinds those who doubt the design superiority of this watch)) 2. Details. Oh, yes, the devil is in them. Notifications arrive without delay, the watch does not suddenly disconnect, like my previous ones Gear Fit 2, it is possible to dictate a response in instant messengers, talk on the phone through the watch. Navigation in the menu is without delay, the device is built into the Apple ecosystem and synchronized with all devices - hurray! 3. Comfortable stock rubber strap. At first I thought that I would change it later him to the one that is more interesting, but for now I’m in love with this one. 4. Fitness and assessment of the body’s condition. The pedometer here is very clear, the altimeter also works flawlessly, there are many types of sports exercises and programs for them - much more than in the same Gear Fit 2, where there are only dials. There are questions only about sleep control, but more on that below. 5. Payment from the watch - fast, convenient, without brakes. And Apple Pay Almost all stores now accept it. Now I can’t even imagine how it would be to pay with a card or even with a phone. Disadvantages: Despite the general advantages, there are also disadvantages. 1. Autonomous operation. Is someone talking about three days? Ha! My device with the option to turn on the screen by turning my wrist disabled lasts a day and a half maximum, if I don’t use the training functions and don’t use it as a player: just notifications and programs for recording sleep. I don't take off my watch at night. Yes, I set the display brightness to minimum and disabled continuous heart rate measurement. It didn't help much. The same Gear S3, according to reviews, lives a day and a half longer. 2. Sleep control. Before purchase smart watch I didn’t attach much importance to sleep, but smart alarm clock and by analyzing the phases of sleep I realized how important it is for daily work to sleep correctly. So, Apple developers missed this point. Yes, it is in the market third party applications, where for 800 wooden ones they promise all the sleep analytics and even more, but in fact you will have to set the start and end time of sleep yourself, and this is complete nonsense! Yesterday I bought the AutoSleep program for 229 rubles, where the developers lied about full automation. According to her, I slept for half an hour today, although it was a full seven hours. Great, thanks for wasting your money. 3. Navigating through the menu is really fast, cool and without getting stuck, but as soon as you decide to go into some program that is not very optimized for the device, be prepared to wait two seconds before turning it on. Of course, Apple has the largest volume of applications in its store, but it feels like they were added in a hurry for show. At the same Samsung programs less, but they turn on faster. Comment: Overall, despite the disadvantages, I recommend it for purchase. Yes, they don’t live long, but for the average city dweller who is always near wires, this is not a big deal, but you definitely won’t take them with you on a hike, otherwise you’ll look after them like a child on the road. Yes, sleep control is extremely poor, but suitable software will appear sooner or later, for this you do not need to change the device itself. Yes, opening some applications leaves much to be desired, but this can also be fixed. In general, this is a reliable and very nice device, which is designed for one brand of phones, which means that Apple customers get full functionality for... Yes, by the way, the price, of course, is rather high, but, objectively, it is analogous to watches in terms of elaboration (in in any case, for iPhones))), not on the market.
Last week I discovered that the glass on my Apple Watch was broken. “Broken” is probably too strong a term, more like a crack in the glass, on the top edge. It looks something like this: 
I think there is no particular need to highlight the crack with arrows, and everything is visible that way. By the way, it turned out that taking a photograph so that it doesn’t seem like everything is worse than it really is is quite difficult. In the photo the crack is very clearly visible, because I highlighted it, but in general it is not very noticeable.
That's one of the reasons why I don't even know when it came out. On the day when I saw her, and the day before that, I definitely didn’t “knock” the watch anywhere, so I don’t know exactly where I caused this injury to the watch. By the way, the watch is a Sport, with a regular, “non-sapphire” glass, although I read about sapphire that it is scratch-resistant and cracks quite easily from impacts. The watch was purchased on April 10, delivered on April 28, so the one-year warranty has already expired. I didn’t buy extended Apple Care for my watch, so I actually had few options, and in order to find out, I went to Apple Store.
A service specialist (I got the impression that Apple is gradually wanting to abandon the idea of calling them “geniuses”) looked at my watch and found out serial number, that my warranty has expired, I told the following option:
– all broken watches are sent to Apple
- they are studied there: “this is a new product, so they are trying to study everything and understand what, how and why it broke”
– after this the client is sent a watch “as an exchange” - as I understand it, it’s the same model, but new.
– the process takes about 1 week and costs $199 (and if I had purchased Apple Care ($49), I would have paid another $69 + taxes for that exchange). Under Apple Care, you can do this 2 times during the extended warranty period (1 year).
By the way, in order to send your watch to Apple for repair, you don’t have to go to the Apple Store. The same “exchange” program can be ordered online; you will receive a box by mail in which you put the watch, send it to Apple, and then a few days later (after paying the same $199, of course), Apple will send a new watch.
After thinking a little, I decided that for now I would remain “with a crack,” and, oddly enough, the service man from Apple agreed with me. According to him, the crack is insignificant, does not affect operation, the screen functions normally. The only thing that could have suffered was the water resistance of the watch, so, I decided, perhaps, it’s better not to swim in the pool or sea with it now (despite the fact that Apple doesn’t officially talk about this, but my experience shows that even after the pool , and after the sea-ocean the watch feels normal). If suddenly the screen falls apart even more or it starts to interfere with work, then I will use the exchange program, and if not, then I will wait until the announcement of the new model and then I will upgrade somehow.
PS I even read on iFixit about how to disassemble an Apple Watch, but decided that these experiments were not for me (especially since the video does not show how to put the watch back together, and there is also some tension with spare parts):
So, it seems that again the greedy epol is doing everything to force users to use their service.