- Some Apple Watch Series 10 owners report a coating defect
- The issue apparently only affects the Apple Watch Series 10 in Jet Black
- Apple Stores Apparently Offering Free Replacements to Some Users
The Apple Watch Series 10 is one of the best Apple watches, but one model in particular seems to have a slight cosmetic issue. If you have one in Jet Black, you may want to take it off and check its bottom; That’s because some people report that the coating is corroding and peeling off. And the good news is that Apple seems to be taking the issue seriously.
Reddit user ashadow_song was unhappy with the state of his Apple Watch. After just a year of use, the black coating on the bottom of the device was pitted with small silver dots, areas where the colored coating had peeled off and fallen off the watch.
Not content to sit back, ashadow_song went to an Apple Store and received some good news. When speaking to a store employee, they were apparently told, “we’ve seen this many times with [the] jet black version, you’ll get a free replacement almost guaranteed.”The Apple worker then took the watch in for inspection and ashadow_song said he received a replacement confirmation email from Apple the next day.
As evidence, the poster provided a screenshot of an Apple support ticket (below) that stated, “We will replace your product,” adding that “Your replacement product will be sent to you soon.” That suggests that Apple wants to resolve this issue as quickly as possible, without risking unhappy customers.
We’ve reached out to Apple for official comment on this issue and will update this story if we hear back.
Get it checked
Applewatch from r/AppleWatch/comments/1p9pmbr/psa_apple_will_replace_your_series_10_jet_black
Interestingly, ashadow_song said that they didn’t claim the replacement under Apple’s extended AppleCare+ coverage, but instead did so under the Watch’s standard warranty. Since this lasts for a year, it implies that the problem manifests itself in less than 12 months of use. This was backed up by Reddit user PrincessCaramel, who said they were experiencing the same issue after about a year of ownership.
This is concerning considering that the Apple Watch is designed to be worn 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even during workouts and in all weather conditions. Given that, you would think that your coating would better resist the sweat and humidity that could be causing this corrosion.
At this time, these are still only anecdotal cases and there is still no evidence that it is a widespread problem. However, there are examples of threads on Apple’s community support forums from some Jet Black Series 10 owners experiencing the same thing.
Also of note is the Apple Store worker’s apparent claim to have “seen this a lot” with the Jet Black Apple Watch Series 10 models. We haven’t seen reports of other Apple Watch colors or models being affected, so the issue could be limited to the Jet Black Series 10 and the composition of its coating.
Whatever the case, you may want to double-check your Apple Watch to make sure it’s not suffering from the same color degradation. If so, head to your nearest Apple Store to see if you get a similar response.
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