The Apple Card: A Review of the Shiny New Titanium Credit Card
As we approach the anniversary of the Apple Event in March, it's time to revisit one of the most intriguing announcements from that event - the Apple Card. This sleek new credit card is made of titanium, a material known for its strength and durability. The first thing that catches the eye when holding the Apple Card is its matte white finish on both the front and back, accompanied by precise laser cuts featuring your name, the Apple logo, and the chip.
The design of the Apple Card is undoubtedly unique, with a thickness similar to a regular card but significantly heavier due to its metal composition. This makes it feel more substantial and less flexible than traditional cards. The chamfered edge, which wraps around the entire card, adds a touch of sophistication and catches the light as you move it.
When considering how the Apple Card would fit into one's everyday wallet, it's worth noting that it's the same size as other cards, making it easy to slip in among your regular payment cards. The only concern is the white finish, which may chip or discolor over time. However, upon initial inspection, the card appears to be remarkably clean and free of imperfections.
Activating the Apple Card is a straightforward process that requires holding your iPhone near the card and tapping on the screen. This will prompt you to wake up your device and initiate the activation process in iOS. Once activated, the card adds itself to the Wallet app, allowing you to use it for transactions wherever Apple Pay is accepted.
One of the standout features of the Apple Card is its seamless integration with the Wallet app. The app offers a user-friendly interface that makes managing your spending habits easy to track. A slider feature allows users to visualize how much interest they'll be charged on their purchases, making informed decisions about their spending more accessible. Furthermore, the card's color gradient changes depending on the merchant or category, providing an added layer of insight into your spending habits.
A fun fact revealed by Neil at The Verge is that the color gradient of the card actually holds significance - it begins as white and gradually adds colors as you make purchases at different merchants or categories. I put this theory to the test by pre-ordering my Galaxy Note 10 on BH & H using the Apple Card, and was delighted to see the app populate with the purchase instantly, adding a new color to the gradient.
The card also offers a purchase history feature, allowing users to view their recent transactions in a convenient list. This information is then used to calculate your earning potential - rather than traditional points that accumulate over time, you receive Apple Cash at a rate of one percent per transaction. While this may not seem like much on its own, it's worth noting that purchases made using Apple Pay generate an additional 2% cash back and 3% cash back for purchases made within the Apple ecosystem.
For those considering applying for the Apple Card, be aware that interest rates are relatively standard, ranging from 12% depending on your credit score. However, the benefits of earning Apple Cash make up for this somewhat limited incentive structure. The card's focus on providing a seamless experience and fostering a sense of loyalty to the Apple ecosystem can't be ignored.
Some might view the Apple Card as more of a status symbol or a "flex" of the decade - and in some ways, that's fair to say. Its sleek design and exclusive features make it an attractive addition to any wallet. However, it's essential to remember that this is still just a credit card at its core, with benefits and drawbacks that should be carefully considered.
In conclusion, the Apple Card offers a unique blend of style, functionality, and integration with the larger Apple ecosystem. While it may not stand out as a top-tier credit card in terms of interest rates or rewards, its exclusive features and user-friendly interface make it an appealing option for those already invested in the Apple universe.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what is up guys mkbhd here so if you remember that services apple event back in march that weird one the one actual piece of hardware technically that was announced at that event was this shiny new titanium apple credit card called apple card well now it's august and actually have one now here so we have to answer the question what would it be like if apple made a credit card so this is the card itself like i mentioned it's made of literally titanium uh all matte white on the front and the back super clean as you'd expect from apple hardware and it's got this precise laser cut out with your name on the front and the apple logo and the chip of course and then on the back is the magnetic stripe and a goldman sachs and mastercard logos so the issuing bank and the card provider for this guy and right off the bat i know there are other metal credit cards but i don't have any so this is very different from the rest of what i normally carry it's the same thickness as a normal card but quite a bit heavier being metal and also way less flexible feels more durable i'm not going to try to actually break this thing but it flexes way less it's more solid and then there's this sort of chamfer that goes all the way around and gleams and catches in the light as you'd expect from a solid block of metal this uh this is the wallet i carry right now it's made by trove i'll link it below since people always ask about it but i don't carry cash i just have a couple cards with me and the card key actually to get into the studio literally wrapped in a dbrand skin so i don't have to look at the brown color that it actually is but uh the apple card would fit right into a normal wallet it's the same size as every other card not too much thicker the only thing that actually concerns me here is the white finish like how does it wear does it start to chip off or does it start to discolor over time not exactly sure but it does look super clean right out the box so to activate it it comes in this colorful packaging with instructions wake iphone and hold here so i just touched the top of my iphone right to the bottom of the card right around here and it comes up in ios just like any other pair of airpods or something to pair you activate the card here and it adds it to your wallet app and you're officially good to go this is essentially a credit card for iphone users like that's just that's what it is meaning it's basically an extension of the apple pay that you could already use but now in a physical credit card form so all those places that don't accept apple pay but you still want to use apple pay so it shows up in the wallet app you have a physical card to do it and then on top of that there are a lot of legitimately nice features in the wallet app that you may already know since it's a credit card this time there is a slider to show how much interest you'd be paying versus different payment schedules with this really clean intuitive ui the red color like actively discourages you from making the minimum payment and racking up more interest so that's pretty cool and then fun fact so neil at the verge actually tweeted that he noticed in the app the color gradient of the card actually means something so it starts off completely white like mine before you spend any money on anything with the card and then anytime you spend money at a different merchant or category it adds colors to the gradient so i wanted to test that out for myself so i went to b h and literally i pre-ordered my galaxy note 10 with the apple card and sure enough instantly like literally a half a second after i pressed the buy button on b h's site my app populated with that purchase and added the color to my card so i'm starting my gradient of colors now so yeah i can confirm that's what's happening here it was really impressively fast and then it gives you a purchase history where you can dig into each purchase every transaction and see it on a map so if you don't recognize it you can look up exactly where it came from honestly a lot of stuff that i wish my current banking app also did and then i guess one of the most underrated pieces of it is it's all secured with face id so even if someone finds your card or someone steals your card they can't use it because they don't have your iphone or even if they do have your iphone they don't have your face you can also remotely deactivate the card from the wallet app which is also where you can grab the card number if you want to pay for things online using a form like i just did with b h and then of course it's just also very clean there's no card number on the card that's a little more secure i guess and there's no signature since that's not required anymore it's in the app so you just get this nice super clean look it's pretty nice actually now to be honest as a credit card it's actually not that amazing of a credit card interest rates are okay you know 12 and up depending on your credit score if you get approved but like you know you won't see this on any best value cards lists anytime soon the one cool thing is instead of giving you points that build up over time it just gives you straight apple cash the next day so you can spend it 24 hours after you've earned it you get one percent cash back on everything so like that note 10 i just bought on b h with the card i got one percent cash back i get two percent cash back on everything that i use apple pay for and you get three percent cash back on everything you buy from the apple store from apple i don't know who's spending that much money in apple that that would be a thing you'd care about but hey that's what you get i don't know i kind of just see this thing as a status symbol slash flex of the decade honestly this is uh very gratuitous that that's just what it is one thing i do have to say though just because the features are so good and so intertwined with the wallet app on the iphone beware of the ecosystem if you thought the walls of the the garden weren't high enough already just because people don't want to leave the iphone because of imessage and the green and blue bubbles people don't want to leave the iphone because they have all the storage and icloud already imagine trying to switch to an android phone but you don't want to now because you also have to give up your credit card like that's nuts so beware this is obviously another tool that can be used to sort of trap you in the apple ecosystem but you already knew that right anyway thanks for watching this quick one just figured i'd give a quick update since there is technically actually new hardware around but uh that's just about all there is to it also shout out to the waveform podcast is now officially launched i'll have a link right below that like button if you want to check it out episode one is up and uh we'll have more info on that coming soon either way thanks for watching catch you guys later peace you\n"
