Steel Apple Watch vs. Aluminum Sport: Everything you need to know about them
They differ not only in materials. Ion-X protective glass has a number of not entirely obvious advantages over 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 Apple Watch's sapphire-protected display is 74% reflective more light than with 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 it is important to you high contrast and good readability Apple display Watch in any conditions, it is worth carefully weighing all the pros and cons available models before the purchase. [MacRumors]
In 2014, Apple Watch was presented to the public at another presentation. 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 previously announced anything like this, 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 thing basic apple The difference between the Watch and 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.
The Apple Watch 42mm sport is equipped with impact-resistant Ion-X glass. Despite this, one of the main reasons for contacting service centers is precisely broken glass. Due to impacts and falls, chips and cracks appear on the protective glass of the Apple Watch 42 mm Stainless Steel. With such damage, the touchscreen or display often fails. The device's display may display colored spots, streaks, or stop working completely, and the touchscreen may become partially or completely unresponsive to touches on the watch screen.
However, if the display and touchscreen work normally, then you can use a unique service to replace the protective glass. Glass replacement is carried out separately by only a few service centers in Moscow.
- First, the glue is heated and the screen module is separated from the device body.
- Then separated from the display protective glass. To do this, the optical glue must be heated to 80 degrees C using special equipment.
- After this, the new protective glass and the original display with touchscreen are glued together into special installation under pressure.
In the case of Apple Watch, the choice service center especially important. Repair of this device is accompanied by big amount complexities and can only be produced by experienced craftsmen. Using the INFO-MALL service, you will find those service centers where your Apple Watch will be repaired quickly and efficiently.
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, protective glass was the most vulnerable to unpleasant encounters with a harsh environment, as is the case with the iPhone and iPad. What should you do if your watch screen is broken or cracked? Our friends and colleagues, specialists from the ModMac service center, showed how to carry out the process of replacing the watch display, since they have already been contacted many 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 Force Touch component is integrated into the display 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 on 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..
Last week I discovered that the glass on my Apple Watch had 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 so everything is visible. 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.
