I broke mine a week ago.. Just happened to look down and saw a hairline crack on the perimeter of the bezel. I have hit the watch in the past and not a scratch, was shocked when I didn't appear to hit it and it was broken. I was just like oh well guess I'm doing a screen swap. I have swapped several iphone screens. Didn't expect the screen to cost $200 dollars alone... I have bought iphone screens for $30-$40. So then I went to Apple's site and saw that it was $280 to repair a $400 watch.. What the H. Then while researching part replacement options I'm reading of others who have broken their watches without immediately knowing. I would feel a lot better at least knowing when I did this. That's the disturbing part to me. If it broke without me knowing I suspect the watch is not as scratch/break proof as advertised. I'm seeing a class action lawsuit too in CO. So with that info I was like I'm going to see what Apple says. I brought the watch into the local store and they sent it out to their service center. Got a denial email yesterday. Not surprised but definitely disappointed. I have never broken a watch while wearing it in my life (40 yrs old). I bought another Apple watch when I sent the original out for repair. I didn't think Apple would step up. Idk I'm torn, feel like it may be a defect and then again maybe I hit it while walking around my house and didn't feel it? Maybe it's like waking up with a bruise on your leg and not knowing how it happened. It would have been nice to know though!
The same thing happened to me a few months ago. I noticed that there was a weird crack around the perimeter of my watch. I could still use it so I didn't do anything about it at the time. A week later, I (bareley) knocked my watch against a wall and the face cracked enough to render the screen useless. I contacted Apple and their response was "you can buy a new watch at full price." WTF? I am fairly certain that there is an issue with these watches that causes the screen to crack around the perimeter and Apple is being Apple and refusing to acknowledge a flaw in their "perfect" design.
Watches get beat up, right, so don't make a watch with a huge screen if you refuse to use a glass that is not strong enough to withstand daily bumps. I am in the same boat as the OP (minus 30 years) in that I have never broken a watch face. The Apple watch cracked along the perimeter and I do not remember an impact that would cause such a break. I am certain that the initial crack weakened the screen and allowed the second crack to occur. I would love to see a class action lawsuit here as I think Apple is being negligent in creating a flawed product and refusing to address the cracking issues. Again, this is not a smartphone. We don't put our watches in our pockets, they are on an exposed part of our body that is constantly in action. This watch is, supposedly, designed for action/sports.
I had a Fitbit Surge for two years before the Apple Watch 3. Yes, the band came apart (replaced for free), but the screen remained perfect. I doubt my activities were any different when I was using the Surge.
Edit: I just heard about and read the class action lawsuit in CO. The complaint seems spot on and I think the "geniuses" are encouraged to discourage complainers from pursuing the matter. I know that I was definitely discouraged by the "genius" that I talked to on the phone. He said flat out that there was nothing Apple would do other than sell me a new watch - even after I mentioned the known swollen battery issue. After that phone conversation I was left feeling like it was hopeless to pursue the matter. That was before June, before this lawsuit was filed, before more people had spoken out about the perimeter cracks on the AW3.
What a completely untrustworthy company Apple has turned out to be.
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Add me to the list of folks with a cracked screen that *I did not crack*. I was making dinner one night and the watch face was fine, then 20 min later it looked shattered on one side and had a large crack running through it. No whacks and no drops. If there are “invisible” impact cracks that just suddenly shatter your screen, I fail to see how this is the consumers fault. All the pompous Apple acolytes in this thread clearly don’t want to admit that Apple might actually be at fault from a design or manufacturing perspective. How dare you blame the original poster and the growing number of other posters that it’s all they’re fault and are either hopeless bumbling fools or liars? I am a computer programmer - you design to points of failure, not to best case scenarios. Things are going to go wrong and a watch with a $400 price point should not up and shatter for no apparent reason, especially a month old watch (mine) with no visible damage. Who on earth would keep buying things from a company that cannot design enough give in their products to allow normal use without busting randomly? Not me. Last Apple product I’ll buy - I’m a real person, not a robot. If you can’t design your product to withstand normal wear and tear (especially in a waterproof SPORT watch), then you clearly need a fiscal wake up call to make much needed design changes to your products. So, no, Apple, I won’t pay you to replace my brand new under warranty watch. I will, though, call Apple Customer support again on the off chance they’ll replace the screen for free (like a decent company that takes pride in making a quality product should). Perhaps if this was my first issue with Apple, I might play ball but it’s not. Anybody remember when they bricked most of their phones 8 or so years ago when they upgraded the O/S? I couldn’t even call 911 if I needed to...and they tried to tell me it was a hardware issue when I called (on another phone, to boot). Uh, no. And then there is the whole battery life issue that came to light recently for “older” model iPhones. Apple ain’t perfect, folks, and it’s not always the consumers fault when things go wrong with one of their products.
Agreed! The design should take into account normal wear and tear. Honestly, I fully expected the watch to be durable because it
needs to be durable. Phones go in pockets where there is a modicum of protection. Watches go on wrists where there is no protection. If Apple was unable to design a watch that could handled daily use then they should have either A) waited until they could create such a design or B) provided screen and watch protectors to the consumer for free. I miss my watch. It was fun to use for the few months that it worked, but I am appalled at the response regurgitated by the Apple "geniuses".
