Apple Watch Ultra Repairs Will Probably Cost More Than Buying a New Series 8

Unlike an iPhone, which would possibly spend most of your day sitting in a desk or hiding away in a pocket, the Apple Watch is an costly machine that’s uncovered to the world all day lengthy. The probability of it getting banged up and needing repairs someday could be very excessive, and for the Apple Watch Ultra, it looks as if repairs won’t come cheap.

One of the downsides to our electronics getting smaller and smaller is that the engineering methods wanted to miniaturize our expertise typically makes it very troublesome to restore. Unlike with a spacious desktop laptop, a smartphone or smartwatch’s elements are all soldered collectively and troublesome to swap out, whereas a lot of glue and sealants are used to make sure gadgets just like the Apple Watch stay reliably waterproof. Cracking it open to interchange only one tiny malfunctioning part simply isn’t an possibility, and infrequently repairs require all of a tool’s guts to be fully swapped out.

Apple guarantees its new Apple Watch Ultra is Tonka robust, with a titanium physique and sapphire glass defending the display screen. But nothing is indestructible, and in response to the support section of Apple’s website (which offers estimates of restore prices), the $799 smartwatch focused at athletes and adventure-y sorts will value $499 to repair, as long as you’re doing something apart from swapping out a dying battery. For comparability, probably the most reasonably priced model of the brand new Apple Watch Series 8 prices simply $399 to buy model new—$100 cheaper than reviving a lifeless Ultra.

The steep restore prices aren’t totally stunning, as fixing the most affordable model of the Apple Watch Series 8 runs $299, or $79 if it simply requires a battery swap (the Ultra’s bigger battery prices $99 to interchange). Older fashions just like the ceramic Apple Watch Edition are much more costly to repair, too. And to not flip this into an advert for extra Apple companies, however in the event you’ve ever hummed and hawed over shelling out additional for AppleCare service, the $100 additional cost it provides to the Apple Watch Ultra might be nicely price it, because it drops restore charges to only $79. It’s the primary Apple machine particularly designed for excessive use circumstances, together with diving adventures, which will increase the chances of it getting broken, so why not lower the dangers of sticker shock ought to the unlucky occur?