I’m trying to switch to the natural titanium after 5 years of stainless steel. Right now I have a S6 in each, and it’s a really tough decision. People will say to choose on the basis of style but that too is kind of an odd ask: you can still like both! If they were $100/each I would surely keep both.
Some early observations:
— if you are used to the shiny steel, the titanium looks really really humble at the beginning. Like, it’s more like a MacBook than like the sides of an iPhone X or later. More like tech than like jewelry.
— but after a little while you begin to wonder: was the shiny steel maybe a bit too flashy for those last five years? Isn’t the titanium a bit more of a connoisseur’s flavor, while someone who doesn’t know any better may still mistake it for aluminum? Is it not, in other words, a bit more refined than the steel that shouts “look at me!”?
— and yet. The titanium comes with a light grey sports band which you cannot swap at the Apple Store. That’s a shame, because it means that unless you happen to like that color you’ll have to have a duplicate sports band. I don’t like the excess. To say nothing of the charger, which they could’ve kept.
— and yet: the titanium watch is already picking up tiny scratches. Tiny, for sure, but certainly-there-level scratches. My previous steel (a S4) had two years of intensive swimming, bike-mechanic work, sweating, soap, everything was thrown at it mercilessly and while it certainly did pick up marks on the way, it still looked very dignified. My early impression is that the titanium will age worse than the steel. What I am trying to figure out is if it’ll be easier to buff out.
— at times I feel like I am trying to make myself like the titanium but deep down I know the steel is more elegant. I go for a whole day with the titanium and then I see the steel on the charger and I go, wow, that’s a beautiful watch!
— then I think: with the redesign likely for Series 7 next year, I will surely upgrade again. Wound’t that be a good reason to try out the titanium, knowing that in 12 months I can go back to the steel if I regret it? Isn’t this, after all, the sort of decision that it takes a whole year to make?
Sometimes I wish Apple just made one model of everything.