Apple has seen decent success with its smartwatch so far, but its failure to honor the watch’s warranty dragged it into a court case, which it lost on Tuesday to a Welshman — Gareth Cross. The plaintiff accused the company of violating the region’s “Sale of Goods Act” after the U.S. firm refused to honor the watch’s warranty.
Apple Watch not impact-resistant
According to the BBC, the company received orders from the court to refund the cost of the Cross Apple Watch Sport £339 (about $489) and pay £429 ($618) additional to cover the expenses.
“I went for the sport version because I am prone to knocking things about a bit and it said it was impact resistant,” Cross said.
Previously, the company claimed in its marketing messages that the product is impact-resistant, but now it is changing its message. Cross bought the watch in July 2014, and ten days later, he noticed that the cover glass had a crack. Cross tried to get it repaired under the warranty but was denied.
“I hadn’t even been doing anything strenuous, just sitting around watching TV. When I got to work the hairline crack had got bigger and bigger so I called Apple up to get it repaired,” Cross told BBC.
Cross said the case became “stressful” as it was against one of the world’s biggest corporations but that he will eventually buy another Apple Watch.
“But I may wait until the next model is out,” he said.
Though the model is named Sport, in reality, it is less rugged than the regular Watch. The regular watch model has a steel body and a sapphire screen, while the Sport makes use of Apple’s “Ion-X” glass and aluminum.
Expected features of the Apple Watch 2
Rumors about new features we may see in the upcoming Apple Watch 2 have started to grow. It is said that Apple’s next-gen watch will feature 3D Touch, which is in the latest iPhone. This feature registers three levels of contact and has gained popularity recently.
Apple’s next watch may also come with independent Wi-Fi to make it a standalone device. Though leaked pictures show the same design as that of the Watch 1, rumors say that the new device will be slimmer. According to a report from Alphr, the IPX7 waterproof standard of the device could be updated to IP67.
