And Now, Apple Tells You How to Clean a Credit Card

Apple’s new credit card, the Apple Card, comes in titanium. The credit card itself features a premium look which Apple achieved with a white finish implemented with a multi-layer coating process on the titanium base of the card. And because of that, plus the fact that it’s an Apple product, there are obviously some special requirements for taking care of this product.

Apple literally published a cleaning guide for its new credit card recently, as first spotted by AppleInsider. And that’s all good, but some of the points mentioned in the cleaning guide are more than ridiculous.

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First up, Apple says some fabrics — like leather and denim — may result in permanent discoloration of the Apple Card that you won’t be able to wash off. Yes, that means you basically can’t put the Apple Card in your wallet if you have a leather wallet like most people, and you also need to make sure it doesn’t get in contact with your jeans. I am not kidding.

And to clean the Apple Card itself, the company suggests you to gently wipe it with a soft, slightly damp, and lint-free microfiber cloth. It strongly asks you not to use any window or household cleaners, compressed air, aerosol sprays, solvents, ammonia, or abrasives to clean the Apple Card. Apple also suggests making sure the Apple Card doesn’t touch another credit card, magnets, or similar abrasive objects. That’s pretty understandable considering this is a titanium card, but the fact that you can’t put even it in a leather wallet or your jeans is just a joke in itself. It’s not the end of the world, though, you can simply order a replacement card from Apple if your current one gets damaged.

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Conversation 33 comments

  • wocowboy

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 5:21 am

    <p>The indigo blue in a brand new pair of jeans can permanently discolor other fabrics or materials in just one wearing, so this is nothing terribly earth-shaking. The leather driver's seat in my car has a permanent blue hue that came about after wearing a new pair jeans that bled into the leather. The same sorts of things can come about because of certain chemicals used in tanning of leather or creating colors of leather. Finishes mar and wear, and one finish may affect another finish, it's a fact of life, and certainly nothing worthy of a "gate". </p>

    • FullyLoaded

      22 August, 2019 - 7:27 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#450982">In reply to wocowboy:</a></em></blockquote><p>Everything you said is absolutely correct and reasonable. What is not reasonable is having to worry about any of this for your credit card.</p>

      • Skolvikings

        22 August, 2019 - 9:39 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#450987">In reply to FullyLoaded:</a></em></blockquote><p>In reality, you don't need to worry about this for your credit card. It'll still work. It just won't "look" as nice. It's up to you if that bothers you. Most of my credit cards look like complete trash by the time they send me a new one, and I don't care.</p>

      • lvthunder

        Premium Member
        22 August, 2019 - 10:58 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#450987">In reply to FullyLoaded:</a></em></blockquote><p>Then don't worry about it. I'm not. As long as it works it's fine. It's kind of weird that it's a bit thicker then my other cards though. I wasn't expecting that.</p>

        • Jackwagon

          Premium Member
          22 August, 2019 - 4:19 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#451034">In reply to lvthunder:</a></em></blockquote><p>Wouldn't you know it, the one time Apple decides to make something thicker, it would be in a way that may actually negatively affect it (as far as squeezing it into a wallet).</p>

          • ommoran

            Premium Member
            22 August, 2019 - 4:35 pm

            <blockquote><em><a href="#451089">In reply to Jackwagon:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>And, oddly, it's the only product by Apple known to thicken, and not thin out, your wallet… No wait, this does both at the same time.</p><p><br></p><p>I find it hysterical that Apple is promoting Apple Pay, and actually made an artifact for the card. The fact that it's made of titanium is frankly tacky.</p><p><br></p><p>I can't wait for the Gold and Black cards, by the way.</p>

            • Jackwagon

              Premium Member
              22 August, 2019 - 10:45 pm

              <blockquote><em><a href="#451092">In reply to ommoran:</a></em></blockquote><p>The titanium sort of makes me think of the original Powerbook G4. The physical card could be sort of like the headphone jack dongle that came with some iPhones – a way of ensuring compatibility with "legacy" systems.</p>

      • wocowboy

        Premium Member
        22 August, 2019 - 12:50 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#450987">In reply to FullyLoaded:</a></em></blockquote><p>I have had the magnetic stripe, logos, and print on my credit cards rub off onto my wallet ever since I have been carrying credit cards, this is nothing to me. I really don't care about it. </p>

  • obarthelemy

    22 August, 2019 - 5:45 am

    <p>Apple claims to be very green. How green is that credit card ? Sounds way over-manufactured ?</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      22 August, 2019 - 11:00 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#450983">In reply to obarthelemy:</a></em></blockquote><p>Remember plastic is evil to the environmentalists these days. This is right up their alley.</p>

  • rfog

    22 August, 2019 - 5:59 am

    <p>Oh, man, this is the summum of Apple. Never laughed more since the Apple watch with gold with more atoms than normal gold…</p>

  • jrswarr

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 7:52 am

    <p>Given that you only reap the rewards if you use your iPhone and DON'T use the card – it's just one more incentive to just frame the dang card and hang it on your wall like a piece of art…..</p><p><br></p><p>ummm — no thanks think I'll just keep using my Cap One….</p>

  • RickEveleigh

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 7:55 am

    <p>Is it 1st April?</p>

  • Thom77

    22 August, 2019 - 8:27 am

    <p>But wait …. there's One More Thing …. Introducing the Apple Wallet XS Pro with atomized deep neural AI to keep your Apple credit card clean.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

    • truerock2

      22 August, 2019 - 5:07 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#450995">In reply to Thom77:</a></em></blockquote><p>No way! Every iPhone I have ever owned is ensconced in a very thick case.</p><p>Everyone should buy an Apple Credit Card case for $35 at the Apple Store!</p><p>And I absolutely guarantee they are already available to buy somewhere.</p><p><br></p>

  • rm

    22 August, 2019 - 8:34 am

    <p>With Apple products, style takes precedence of function very often: antenna gate, bent computers (by design of course), etc.. Discloser: I don't buy products for style, I buy products for what the can do for me. I don't buy Apple products.</p>

    • dontbeevil

      22 August, 2019 - 8:42 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#450999">In reply to RM:</a></em></blockquote><p>but but "just works"</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      22 August, 2019 - 10:58 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#450999">In reply to RM:</a></em></blockquote><p>Then why did you even click on this article to read it?</p>

  • dontbeevil

    22 August, 2019 - 8:41 am

    <p>bahuahauhauahuahauha ROTFL … apple knows the apple average user really good</p>

    • jdjan

      Premium Member
      23 August, 2019 - 10:06 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#451001">In reply to dontbeevil:</a></em></blockquote><p>Actually, despite the snark, I suspect this is very true. They know their users will be eating up technical support time because their new Apple card "went brown" and they are demanding that it be replaced.</p><p><br></p><p>Having the cleaning guide in place provides a search hit as a way to triage the calls. </p><p><br></p><p>Like the iPhone I'll bet there will soon be a huge 3rd-party market for Apple card cases and protectors. ?</p>

  • red.radar

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 8:45 am

    <p>Big deal…. my current cards look pretty crummy from being in my wallet between my fat butt and the chair I sit in. Numbers are worn, card is discolored and warped. </p><p><br></p><p>I view this differently. It’s no different than any other card that is printed. Apple is trying offer information for those that care to keep it clean, not rat out a design flaw. </p><p><br></p><p>This is is an outrage piece for little reason to bring fanboys out the wood works for ad revenue. And yes I took the bait too. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

    • docpaul

      22 August, 2019 - 9:07 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#451003">In reply to red.radar:</a></em></blockquote><p>I didn't read this as an "outrage piece."</p>

  • yoshi

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 9:21 am

    <p>This is peak Apple.</p><p><br></p><p>But, you know for a fact that some customers will complain about these "issues", so Apple is probably just trying to get out in front of it. Not a bad idea, really.</p>

    • wocowboy

      Premium Member
      22 August, 2019 - 12:53 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#451010">In reply to yoshi:</a></em></blockquote><p>Exactly. If Apple had not put out this statement and someone noticed a scuff on their Apple Card, the hue and cry from Paul and every other tech pundit and tech YouTuber would have been MASSIVE. Untold numbers of videos would be made excoriating Apple for this travesty! Lou will probably make several videos about it today, making more millions from advertising revenue. LOL. Much ado about nothing. </p>

  • Skolvikings

    22 August, 2019 - 9:40 am

    <p>To be fair, I have a leather wallet, but it has a lining so I'm not sure how much contact my credit cards are actually making with the leather itself.</p>

  • djross95

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 11:08 am

    <p>So the card is incompatible with the two most common surfaces that it's likely to come into contact with–leather and denim. Good job, Apple!</p>

  • jwpear

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 1:19 pm

    <p>Am I on the right site? Is this The Onion? This is so funny and so Apple!</p>

  • RonV42

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 4:08 pm

    <p>Now let me get back to finding a decent accessory for my Apple credit card. Oh look there is a Egyptian organic cotton covered sleeve made by <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">free </span>range Chinese workers that looks great.</p>

  • truerock2

    22 August, 2019 - 5:03 pm

    <p>My Costco Citi Visa card is very dirty, discolored from leather and clothing I wear, bent into the shape of my butt.</p><p>The mag stripe is all scratched – but, that's ok – because I cant remember the last time a vendor asked to use a mag-stripe (wow, when was the last time I used an old imprint credit card machine?).</p><p>The gold-chip is in great shape for some reason and the tap-to-pay thing always works.</p><p>I replace it about once per year and get a new number for security reasons.</p><p><br></p><p>I'm thinking I probably will not be using a slightly moist, micro-fiber cloth to clean it.</p><p>I run it through the clothes-washer (accidentally) every once in a while.</p><p><br></p>

  • robinwilson16

    22 August, 2019 - 7:08 pm

    <p>What about putting it into a chip and pin reader – might that not scratch it if an aerosol filled with, well air, causes damage?! Probably best just to put it in a frame and hang it on the wall but don't breath too close in case it disintegrates.</p>

  • olditpro2000

    Premium Member
    22 August, 2019 - 10:26 pm

    <p>They had to publish similar documentation for the HomePod after it was leaving marks on certain surfaces. I guess they wanted to get ahead of it for the card.</p>

  • SAPaleAle

    23 August, 2019 - 1:54 am

    <p>Can see it now Apple will introduce their own line of clothing that is Apple Card compatible. </p>

  • B Mallon

    23 August, 2019 - 10:13 am

    <p>and if it's not working, you're holding it wrong.</p>

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