Accordingly, the same guide advises against putting it in direct contact with other credit cards or loose items lest you scratch that pristine titanium surface. And if there’s a stain you can clean off, you’ll want to wipe it down using a microfiber cloth moistened with isopropyl alcohol.

This isn’t functional issue on the level of Antennagate. It’s not like your card will stop working just because it’s a bit dirty, and you’ll have an incentive to use Apple Pay more often regardless. With that said, the titanium card is as much about flaunting your status as it is making purchases. It’s hard to do that when your card looks like it went through hell, isn’t it?

If this reflects Apple’s plans, it promises some intriguing choices for Apple Watch buyers. Titanium is more expensive than stainless steel and tends not to be as flashy, but it’s also stronger, lighter and more scratch-resistant. Ceramic, meanwhile, is more familiar in the Apple Watch world. It’s more brittle if you break it, but it’s also extremely resilient against scratches. Both choices would likely appeal first and foremost to watch aficionados — they don’t necessarily scream “luxury,” even if they’re bound to stand out compared to the aluminum and steel options.

No matter what, Apple Watches made from either case material would be expensive. They might not cost as much as conventional timepieces made with similar substances, mind you. Apple’s engineering know-how and mass production helped its ceramic Watch Edition undercut the prices of other ceramic watches. You’d likely have to think carefully about splurging on a device like this when it’s going to be obsolete in a few years, but probably not as much as you might think.

At long last, RED is shipping the titanium version of its Hydrogen One phone. It promised the variant when it announced the handset in 2017, and took pre-orders for that version at the full $1,595 cost. When RED delayed the titanium model last September, it sent those who pre-ordered it the aluminum version, and now those folks are receiving a titanium handset as well at no extra cost.