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Apple's Initial Sapphire Production to Target iWatch, Not iPhone 6?
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Hmm...I assumed sapphire was more brittle. But if it's not then I see no reason for Apple to not use it for iPhone screens.
I'm skeptical about the 2-inch a screen. That sounds enormous.
For reference, a Galaxy Gear "only" has a 1.63" screen and looks like this:
![Samsung-Galaxy-Gear-and-Icona-Pop.jpg.jpg]()
For reference, a Galaxy Gear "only" has a 1.63" screen and looks like this:
Presumably the furnace orders also include plenty of cutting equipment. All the sapphire boules in the world are useless without a way to slice them up.
For a phone, they'd use super thin sapphire on top of a thicker and stronger and cheaper glass substrate.
For an iWatch / iBand / iWhatever, they could do the same, or just use a thicker ($$) piece of sapphire for impact protection. Depends on how big they need it to be.
Supposedly in mass production, the cost for a phone screen would drop to about $15. Still too high. However, that's a thick piece by itself, if no glass is used. If the sapphire part can be gotten super thin, maybe it could drop to less than $5 (?).
Sapphire isn't scratch proof either. (A diamond bracelet can scratch it. So can some fake stone counters.) But yes, it's much more scratch proof than GG.
Using Vicker's Hardness scale, diamond is 10,000. Sapphire is about 2,300. Gorilla Glass is about 660.
7s will definitely see liquid metal
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i do hope... and i really really do hope, its either like a thin bracelet or very wide along the wrist... much like a curved phone and shorter. the second one will be really nice and useful..
So long as you don't need to get a WiFi signal through it. Anyone else here ever have a TiBook?
I've actually been startled at the abuse that GG on our devices has taken.
It totally depends on the form factor. On a traditional flat display, 2" would look stupid. Even that GG is borderline. Anything that makes a G-Shock look small should be banned IMO.
Also take into consideration the rest of the watch. How bulky it is, how much bezel there is, how the strap is integrated all add up to a device that will either look great or ridiculous, even with a constant screen size.
If the screen is curved, wrapped around your wrist and the form factor small (basically a very "petite" looking watch), you can still cram a 2" display on there (possibly bigger if you play with uncommon aspect ratios) without it looking like you've got 3 Oreos strapped to your wrist.
That's true for aluminium too, that's why the original iPhone had a section in plastic to act as radio "window" at the bottom and new models have the metal rim itself act as an antenna.So long as you don't need to get a WiFi signal through it. Anyone else here ever have a TiBook?
Why not make the rumored Apple TV screen out of Sapphire?? I have my credit card ready to throw at my iMac for a 55"...
#trolling
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Galaxy Gear also didn't have Ive behind the design. If Apple where to make a 2" display they would do it much more tastefully.
#trolling
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Galaxy Gear also didn't have Ive behind the design. If Apple where to make a 2" display they would do it much more tastefully.
People already whine about the cost of the iPhone. Like there would be a large consumer willingness to pay for sapphire screens? It seems it is not a price feature to "include" for the relatively large phone screen. It is featured on Breitling, Rolex, Tag, etc. Not Timex, Casio, Fossil and Swatch. Even at the small size of a watch crystal, it is a significant cost that consumers aren't willing to have added into their cheap mineral-crystal watches, the same will prove true for iPhones I bet.
Sapphire is more resistant to scratches because it's hard, and more brittle for the same reason.
A good sapphire watch crystal is about 5mm thick, so it won't shatter if dropped.
The Gorilla Glass 2 used to protect smartphone displays is only 0.8mm thick, or about six times thinner. GG is also 1/2 the weight and 1/10th the cost.
That's why everyone thinks that Apple will likely use a super thin sapphire layer bonded to some type of glass. Scratch resistance on top of a stronger, lighter, and cheaper substrate.
Hmm. Any materials engineers here? Would a strong backing make the sapphire any more shatter resistant?
Personally I think they should price from $500-1000.
They're a premium brand, trying to disrupt a traditional watch market full of premium brands and there's only so much wrist space.
Price accordingly
My watch with sapphire glass is about 14 years old, is almost never taken off, and the glass has not a scratch.
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That's why Apple bought the whole factory. Sapphire glass is expensive because there is huge investment and not many customers to recoup the investment. Apple could use ten times more sapphire glass than all these watch companies together, and that will bring the average cost down a lot.
Makes PERFECT sense to put it on a watch that would
.. probably take some beating from wear and tear. We all know of our watches that looks great with well made leather straps and then the watch it self ended up TONS of scratches. Gorilla Glass 3 is the NEXT BEST thing for the iPhone 6 - works just as well and the cost is low. Go Corning!
Nobody knows anything for sure, but apple has put a lot of money into the Mesa plant and are pushing hard to have it online THIS month...and with a predicted volume exceeding current iphone supply needs, it all seems very, very aggressive just to be used on the iwatch. If cost is the issue, all of these analysts seem to forget that a sapphire laminate is definitely possible.
They aren't going to sell more iwatches than they are going to sell iPhones...not in the first year. ESPECIALLY if it's just glorified fitbit that shows you your notifications.
They aren't going to sell more iwatches than they are going to sell iPhones...not in the first year. ESPECIALLY if it's just glorified fitbit that shows you your notifications.
Obviously a Diamond scratches it and you can do it with another sapphire, but I really don't think anyone is making fake stone counters with something as hard or harder then sapphire. Most of the ones I'm aware of are Quartz based which is quite a bit softer then Corundum which is 2nd hardest of the naturally occurring substances and still in the top 10 of all substances at this point.
News flash sheep like companies. Nobody wants to wear a watch. That's why everyone stopped a long time ago. My guess lots will buy into the fad just like the companies did. But once the honeymoon is over people will just start looking at their phone again to get the time.
I never even realised that I didn't want to wear a watch.
I shall now put my watch in its box and hide it away at the back of a drawer as I've stopped wearing one.
I'll also stay away from Watchuseek. Actually, my wife would probably think that's a good idea. It would stop me spending large amounts of money on watches. That I don't want, apparently.
I have sapphire crystal on my TAG watches. It's taken a bit of a beating and a few heavy knocks and looks as good as the day it was purchased.
I guess it depends on how thick it is...
Has anyone considered that this could also be for a new version of the iPod, which hasn't been updated in way too long?
They are indeed.
They are indeed.