This reads like something from The Onion. And the card "maintenance" issue is getting mocked everywhere. Not a good look for Apple & its card customers.
This reads like something from The Onion. And the card "maintenance" issue is getting mocked everywhere. Not a good look for Apple & its card customers.
How so? Apple isn’t promoting this support page. If anything it’s a bad look for rumor sites. They’re the ones that made this newsworthy. And once they did then other tech sites like The Verge picked it up.
This is beyond a first world problem... again an example (well sort of) of where Apple Power users are now Instagram influencers and fashionistas... need to have that card looking good for selfies and likes!
People keep thinking that titanium is some sort of miracle material. It’s not. It’s just a metal that’s fairly hard and durable. It will wear just about as much as anything else.
It is weird, however, that except for one visible scratch, my titanium Amex platinum card looks almost as good as new even after nearly two years of regular use.
I’ve already got a couple of serious scratches on the AC.
I know one wants ones’s Apple credit card to look beautiful, and it does seem silly that the card would quickly start looking dingy .... but it isn’t the point of the thing to not use the physical card when you can avoid it? And heck, it’s just a dang credit card. Why do people care?
I'd imagine some would care for the same reasons that Apple wanted it to be a shiny impressive titanium card: It's meant to make an impression. If the card wasn't intended to show off and portray quality and esteem they would have made it plastic like the majority of cards.
If this had happened to a Google or Samsung card most commentators would be posting gleefully saying how terrible the company was they couldn’t even get a simple credit card right. It is fine to be a fanboy but have some integrity.
Wait, what? You people are actually using the card? This isn't card meant to be used, handled by grubby fingers and slid through barely maintained machines! This is a work of Art! A keepsake! A treasure to be stored, and occasionally taken out and admired! Not used!
Are we really having a discussion about taking care of a CREDIT CARD?!
seriously people... that’s just sad.
What's sad is that Apple failed to do basic research and QC on a product that they were showing off. If this were a Samsung card the forum would be laughing itself silly.
People keep thinking that titanium is some sort of miracle material. It’s not. It’s just a metal that’s fairly hard and durable. It will wear just about as much as anything else.
That's the point. The titanium is not being worn. The coatings are being worn, and too quickly.
I guarantee the titanium is also being worn. You’ll begin to see wear marks on it, coating or not.
People keep thinking that titanium is some sort of miracle material. It’s not. It’s just a metal that’s fairly hard and durable. It will wear just about as much as anything else.
The common perception is that titanium is super light. The fact is that it is 2.5 times heavier than aluminum. It can generally only make something lighter if engineers are able to use less material due to its superior strength.
The surface hardness of titanium is softer than stainless steel, so any titanium Apple Watch will be more prone to scratches than the steel version, unless it is coated with something hard.
I think a lot of people were expecting Apple would polish the titanium and make the card shiny. That would not actually be a good durable finish. Titanium is not being used for any cosmetic reason.
The reason titanium is used for the card is that it is much less likely to get bent out of shape than any other metal. Apple needed to avoid a serious bend-gate flaw.
It’s no miracle material but it is strong (takes more pressure to cause permanent deformation). It’s being used here simply because credit cards have to stay flat.
The white coating Apple are spraying on is very tough. I imagine that it is titanium oxide based since that is the most common white pigment. If so, the white coating is essentially titanium.
It is FREE card. No annual fee... I guess people expect too much for free card.
Why even bother to use physical card? for only 1% reward?
Most of people have 2-3% rewards free cards anyway.. If place like restaurant, use amex or PNC free card for 3% return.
If you have only Apple card then get another one for higher rewards.
I got one just to say I was one of the first to have one. I cancelled it as soon as it came in the mail. There is absolutely no advantage whatsoever to use this card other than the excellent app that supports it. And since relatively no one around me accepts ApplePay as it is, no use in having a second credit card.
I know one wants ones’s Apple credit card to look beautiful, and it does seem silly that the card would quickly start looking dingy .... but it isn’t the point of the thing to not use the physical card when you can avoid it? And heck, it’s just a dang credit card. Why do people care?
clearly, Apple did not design the card with use in mind! I honestly think this is a waste of titanium; A nice plastic card would be fine by me.
I saw the other thread where the haters were making fun of this and yet I've never seen any other mention of a credit card being chided for this and it's happened to every single card I've ever placed in my wallet.
See @80s_Apple_Guy's post - The reason people are 'hating' is because Apple asked for it. Apple went to extremes to make the card look and feel different; multiple posters have raved about how beautiful the card is and how it feels and it's also designed to be kept 'forever' - there's no actual expiration date on the card, if you need a new number, you get one on your phone and keep the same card. The look of the card was obviously important to Apple and yet it won't hold up to even a month of routine use. It's only a credit card, but they clearly made decisions without regard to its intended use and the natural conclusion of this is to question Apple's design process and decision making.
I can't believe how much interest there is in how a credit card wears. I guess we're done as a society. So long, its been nice knowing you all...
Primarily because it was promoted in marketing with its own bullet point, and more than once. "Whether you buy things with Apple Pay or with the laser‑etched titanium card... a card that's materially different".
Premium on display when you hand it to a cashier, or your friends see you pay a restaurant tab with it. Something to take pride in. It is intended to look special and by extension make you appear more special, not at all meant to be an inconspicuous card and certainly not to be hidden and unused in public.
When I was far younger, in my 30's, I carried an Amex Platinum. I felt it made an impression with strangers, like I was showing I was important and well off and successful and everyone should know it. I flashed it at every opportunity. I got older and eventually realized "impressive" comes not from an external display of flashy things, and paying a high yearly fee primarily so I could show off was kinda silly.
I got over that stage some years ago, but have a number of friends who never have. The shiny things are what make them feel important.
Comments
I’ve already got a couple of serious scratches on the AC.
Plebes.
/s
If this were a Samsung card the forum would be laughing itself silly.
The surface hardness of titanium is softer than stainless steel, so any titanium Apple Watch will be more prone to scratches than the steel version, unless it is coated with something hard.
I think a lot of people were expecting Apple would polish the titanium and make the card shiny. That would not actually be a good durable finish. Titanium is not being used for any cosmetic reason.
The reason titanium is used for the card is that it is much less likely to get bent out of shape than any other metal. Apple needed to avoid a serious bend-gate flaw.
It’s no miracle material but it is strong (takes more pressure to cause permanent deformation). It’s being used here simply because credit cards have to stay flat.
The white coating Apple are spraying on is very tough. I imagine that it is titanium oxide based since that is the most common white pigment. If so, the white coating is essentially titanium.
Soli said: See @80s_Apple_Guy's post - The reason people are 'hating' is because Apple asked for it. Apple went to extremes to make the card look and feel different; multiple posters have raved about how beautiful the card is and how it feels and it's also designed to be kept 'forever' - there's no actual expiration date on the card, if you need a new number, you get one on your phone and keep the same card. The look of the card was obviously important to Apple and yet it won't hold up to even a month of routine use. It's only a credit card, but they clearly made decisions without regard to its intended use and the natural conclusion of this is to question Apple's design process and decision making.
"Whether you buy things with Apple Pay or with the laser‑etched titanium card...
a card that's materially different".
Premium on display when you hand it to a cashier, or your friends see you pay a restaurant tab with it. Something to take pride in. It is intended to look special and by extension make you appear more special, not at all meant to be an inconspicuous card and certainly not to be hidden and unused in public.
When I was far younger, in my 30's, I carried an Amex Platinum. I felt it made an impression with strangers, like I was showing I was important and well off and successful and everyone should know it. I flashed it at every opportunity. I got older and eventually realized "impressive" comes not from an external display of flashy things, and paying a high yearly fee primarily so I could show off was kinda silly.
I got over that stage some years ago, but have a number of friends who never have. The shiny things are what make them feel important.