How I got a free replacement for my Series 5 Ceramic Apple Watch.
Initially purchased on eBay, I was ecstatic to get a Series 5 Ceramic Apple Watch for around $350. It was the smaller 40mm variant which was fine since that’s my preferred size and I have invested in too many small bands.
After a few days, I noticed something that wasn’t noticeable from online photos: a greenish tint on the display. It was very obvious and disappointing at the same time. The display was never repaired or replaced per the seller (I believe him) and it was just a bad example. I compared it to my wife’s sapphire display on her Series 5 stainless steel.
A true apples to apples comparison in more ways than one.
The photos speak for themselves.
Wife’s stainless steel (left) vs green tinted Ceramic (right).
That premium look just isn’t there with the greenish display.
I double checked the “edit color” screen, and these were both the same color.
I was able to call Apple Support, and I explained the situation. I didn’t want to spend $800 for a repair, since it’s really a manufacturing defect. Once again, the OLED display should not look this bad after a few years especially when my wife’s display is equally old. Even my Series 3 display looked amazing by comparison. I was able to convince the Apple rep that it shouldn’t cost me the “other damage” price of $800 since it’s not really damaged by the user. I got quoted a much lower and reasonable price ($150). My goal was not to get a free repair because I know the watch is out of warranty and I just wanted to pay a fair price for what was most likely a manufacturing defect. Plus, this way Apple at least makes some money instead of nothing because I don’t think anyone will pay $800.
When I submitted the watch for repair, I got it back with a standard repair note that (roughly) said, “we didn’t find anything wrong with the watch.” I had a feeling this would happen. I called Apple again and we went through diagnostics, resetting the watch from scratch, and unsurprisingly the display had the same issue. Now I was getting quoted $849 (probably included tax and shipping), but I told him about my initial $150 quote. He said to take it into an Apple Store and have the technicians look at it and they can better estimate a cost to repair.
The closest Apple Store to me was an hour away, so I made the next logical move:
Fly cross-country to Cupertino myself to get this resolved.
My brother was there attending to some business, so I visited him and made an experience out of it, of course visiting the Apple Park Visitor Center as a side quest. Maybe going to an Apple Store in Cali would resolve the issue faster especially when they can see both watches side by side?
When I did show the Genius both watches, he immediately saw the difference and started tapping away documenting everything on his iPad. After he was done, he said I had to call Apple to get the process resolved since they have “special access” that in-store employees don’t have to submit a replacement. I went back to the Airbnb and called Apple, trying to be a bit more aggressive yet also not trying to be a douchebag.
Now they instructed me to go back to the store and have them send it out for repair. Finally, we’re getting somewhere (or so I thought). This is where my second mini side-quest took place.
A few weeks later back home, I got the watch back, and it was the same watch with no display replacement, with the same, “we found nothing wrong” note. I called again and was frustrated because no one was acknowledging the issue, even though it was proven with photos and shown to an Apple rep. Finally this Apple rep on the phone gave me some UPS instructions that sounded extremely shady, but at this point I had nothing to lose (besides the watch!).
I go to UPS and give the guy the Ceramic watch, and only the Ceramic watch. These were the instructions from the Apple rep. He put it in a baggie, wrapped it up, slapped three separate labels on the package, and off it went. A week later, I got a legitimate replacement watch this time, with no green screen tint, at no cost to me, (minus a few hours of phone time).
I wasn’t trying to get a free replacement, but they probably hooked me up because of all the rigamarole I had to go through. The new display speaks for itself:
At first glance, the new Ceramic (left) has the same color temperature as my wife’s even though the ambient sensor isn’t picking up the light in the room…
and it’s barely noticeable in this photo, but when you go off-axis…
my wife’s display (right) looks green now compared to my “new” Ceramic??
What is up with the off-axis green screen tinting?
Rating all three displays, I would say my first ceramic was definitely the worst, my wife’s stainless steel is 2nd, and my new replacement is top-tier. I would consider this variation based on three factors:
A normal variance where Apple gets displays from different suppliers who have a range of tolerances, even for color temperature. I’ve seen this on modern iPhones that shift color temperature off-axis. The problem is when it is just stupidly green, like my first Ceramic watch (1st photo in this article).
It could be due to the display being six years old, and on OLED displays, blue pixels do degrade faster than green and red pixels, causing a greenish tint.
One of the suppliers for this display, Japan Display Inc., was new to OLED technology, potentially having inferior OLED longevity compared to LG or Samsung.