Apple Watch Series 8: Stainless steel vs aluminum
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Apple Watch: Stainless steel vs aluminum
Apple Watch Series 8 aluminum
- GPS only, GPS + Cellular options
- Weight: 32.0g (41mm), 38.8g (45mm)
- Display material: Ion-X strengthen glass
- Colors: Midnight, Starlight, Silver and (Product)RED
- Price: from $399
Apple Watch Series 8 stainless steel
- GPS only, GPS + Cellular options
- Weight: 42.3g (41mm), 52.5g (45mm)
- Display material: sapphire crystal
- Colors: Silver, Gold, and Graphite
- Price: from $799
Also Read:
Looking at the specs above it’s clear to see that the main difference lies in the weight, build materials, colors and price. So let’s break down the important ones first.
Let’s talk about durability for a second. Aluminum is a great material – it’s very lightweight, and also takes paint really nice, it can be anodized and so on. The only downside is that the grade of aluminum that tech companies use is pretty soft. It scratches easily and you can leave a dent into it with not much effort whatsoever.
The glass situation is pretty similar – the Ion-X strengthened glass is a hardened version of normal glass but it still scratches and it can also break. That’s what $399 will get you in terms of materials.
On the other side of the dollar spectrum, $799 will make things much more solid, metaphorically and also literally speaking. Stainless steel is much harder, scratch resistant and shiny material. But it’s also much denser and heavier than aluminum (stainless steel aircrafts are rare as unicorns).
Sapphire glass is also much harder than normal glass, and also harder than Apple’s Ion-X strengthened glass as well. It’s not natural sapphire but a lab-produced compound with the same chemical formula and crystal structure.
The less important differences concern the color options – the aluminum version is available in Midnight, Starlight, Silver and (Product)RED, while the Stainless Steel can be purchased in Silver, Gold, and Graphite.
Which one should you buy?
Given the GPS + cellular options on both models, as well as the 41mm and 45mm cases also available in both materials, it all boils down to how sturdy and scratch resistant you want your watch to be.
Money, of course, is a big factor as well, you can have the aluminum variant for almost half the price of the stainless steel one. And lastly, the weight – if you’re not comfortable with heavy watches, maybe you should opt for the aluminum case.
For the adventurous types out there, and if you want the maximum available protection for your new Apple Watch, the new Apple Watch Ultra is the logical choice.
Apple Watch Series 8 (41mm)
Buy at Amazon
Apple Watch Series 8 (45mm)
Buy at Amazon
Apple Watch Ultra
Buy at Amazon
Apple Watch Series 8 price and availability:
- Watch Series 8 aluminum 41mm GPS: starts at $399
- Watch Series 8 aluminum 45mm GPS: starts at $429
- Watch Series 8 aluminum 41mm GPS + cellular: starts at $499
- Watch Series 8 aluminum 45mm GPS + cellular: starts at $529
- Watch Series 8 stainless steel 41mm GPS + cellular: starts at $799
- Watch Series 8 stainless steel 45mm GPS + cellular: starts at $849
Apple Watch Ultra price and availability:
- Watch Ultra stainless steel 49mm GPS + cellular: starts at $799
Also Read:
Now that the options have been narrowed down, let’s examine the differences between the vanilla model in more detail.Looking at the specs above it’s clear to see that the main difference lies in the weight, build materials, colors and price. So let’s break down the important ones first.Let’s talk about durability for a second. Aluminum is a great material – it’s very lightweight, and also takes paint really nice, it can be anodized and so on. The only downside is that the grade of aluminum that tech companies use is pretty soft. It scratches easily and you can leave a dent into it with not much effort whatsoever.The glass situation is pretty similar – the Ion-X strengthened glass is a hardened version of normal glass but it still scratches and it can also break. That’s what $399 will get you in terms of materials.On the other side of the dollar spectrum, $799 will make things much more solid, metaphorically and also literally speaking. Stainless steel is much harder, scratch resistant and shiny material. But it’s also much denser and heavier than aluminum (stainless steel aircrafts are rare as unicorns).Sapphire glass is also much harder than normal glass, and also harder than Apple’s Ion-X strengthened glass as well. It’s not natural sapphire but a lab-produced compound with the same chemical formula and crystal structure.The less important differences concern the color options – the aluminum version is available in Midnight, Starlight, Silver and (Product)RED, while the Stainless Steel can be purchased in Silver, Gold, and Graphite.Given the GPS + cellular options on both models, as well as the 41mm and 45mm cases also available in both materials, it all boils down to how sturdy and scratch resistant you want your watch to be.Money, of course, is a big factor as well, you can have the aluminum variant for almost half the price of the stainless steel one. And lastly, the weight – if you’re not comfortable with heavy watches, maybe you should opt for the aluminum case.
