What you need to know

  • Bloomberg asked a scientist to test whether the Apple Card really is made of titanium.
  • A University of California, Berkeley professor concluded the Apple Card os 90% titanium and 10% aluminum.
  • The scientist used a scanning electron microscope to determine the card's atomic makeup.

On Apple's website, the company makes it a point to tell readers that the physical Apple Card is made of titanium. "How the titanium Apple Card works;" "Get your titanium Apple Card;" How to cancel your request for a titanium Apple Card." Turns out, Apple Card mostly definitely is made of titanium, but Apple isn't telling the whole truth.

According to University of California, Berkeley professor Hans-Rudolf Wenk, the Apple Card is 90% titanium and 10% aluminum. Wenk apparently used a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to determine the card's atomic makeup, Bloomberg said.

This isn't some major controversy, so don't go destroying your Apple Card just yet; it does feel a little disingenuous, but there's no reason to make a big deal about it.

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The most controversial thing about the titanium Apple Card is how tough it is to keep clean. In a support document about care and cleaning—in which the word titanium is mentioned 13 times—Apple makes it sound like you should keep your Apple Card in a plastic bubble, otherwise it could show serious signs of wear.

"Some fabrics, like leather and denim, might cause permanent discoloration that will not wash off," Apple's support document says.

We don't have our own SEM, so we can't verify Professor Wenk's findings. 100% aluminum or not, the Apple Card looks good in a wallet and still makes a satisfying clang when you drop it on a hard surface.

For more on Apple Card, you can read our review right here.

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