Apple’s “machining tolerances” have really gone down the crapper in recent years.

[turbineseaplane]

The wheels have slowly been coming off the Apple machine over the years for sure.

It's a dangerous line they are starting to walk given the premiums they charge.

 

[spiderman0616]

Ah gottya, the back is deceptive as the logo, engraving is upside down at the rear.

Here's the front.

View attachment 2005005

I agree with your comments about wear and tear on watches. I've never been particularly careful with watches throughout my life, and they usually hold up well aside from wear and tear on the crown and band clasp like you show above. The bands are ridiculously expensive to replace, and the replacements will just get scratched up too, so I've never bothered worrying about it.

The funny thing is, my Apple Watches have never managed to get banged up hardly at all. My original Series 0 brushed up against my wife's wedding ring one day and got a really minor scratch on the face. My current series 4 has a very very minor mark on the case from whacking against one of my dog's teeth. It didn't even expose any metal--just a tiny dot where it's a bit shinier.

My point being--I haven't been particularly careful with my Apple Watches either, but they seem very durable in my experience. I don't think I've been any more careful with them than usual. They're just tough!

 

[spiderman0616]

The wheels have slowly been coming off the Apple machine over the years for sure.

It's a dangerous line they are starting to walk given the premiums they charge.

I disagree completely. A company with the "wheels coming off" does not produce things like a more or less seamless transition to home grown silicon. The discussion here is about how good their replacement hardware is, and it sounds like for most, it's always been hit and miss cosmetically.

 

[jav6454]

I disagree completely. A company with the "wheels coming off" does not produce things like a more or less seamless transition to home grown silicon. The discussion here is about how good their replacement hardware is, and it sounds like for most, it's always been hit and miss cosmetically.

Agreed. No company "off-the-wheels" would even perform financially like Apple has recently.