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Apple's Move to Revolutionize Sapphire Manufacturing Likely to Leave Competitors Behind

bobenhaus said:
The problem is people are still going to drop their phones just like now and the outcome will still be the same. Crystal is still a type of glass and that's a fact. Also Apple has a good thing going for them by using glass and when the phone breaks they will replace that device for a certain amount of money. GO APPLE! :0
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Lol. Someone need to take a physics lesson. Glass and Crystal are fundamentally different materials i.e. in the way the individual atoms are organized. Two different states of matter. Crystal a solid state of matter, the atoms are aligned highly organized structurally, whereas glass the atom structure is much more random.

Two little time to go into detail, but just wanted to point out that you are , in fact, wrong about this.
 
If you look at the attachments you can see that I dropped my phone hard.

The glass backing cracked but the sapphire based camera stayed good. I'm all for sapphire based on this incident.
 

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TallManNY said:
In use, the little scratches on our phones doesn't make much difference. But when the screen is off they are very noticeable. I believe that will make the iPhone look better and then help with sales. Thing of all the times everyone's phone is sitting on a table at a bar or dinner. If the iPhone looks better without scuffs and scratches, that is going to help with sales a bit.

But it is also going to look great on a spec sheet. "Sapphire". Wow, it is almost like getting a diamond engagement ring. :D
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I think it's classic Apple... focus on little details others overlook or don't have the resources to address, like MagSafe, unibody enclosures, glass trackpads, multitouch trackpads, magnetic latches, integrated hinges, etc.

You're right in that hairline scratches don't make a big difference in usability, but psychologically, I, and others I know, hate them. Having a truly scratch resistant screen is the kind of detail that will do a lot more than just increase sales; it will engender more loyalty to the brand.
 
Dekema2 said:
I'm sure they signed a contract where the price won't fluctuate. Samsung will have to either pay a fortune or jack their phone prices up.
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You are so, so wrong. Samsung can simply steal the sapphire. After years of holding things up in court a jury will award Apple a day's worth of ill-begotten profits. Meanwhile people will complain for years that Apple has the audacity to try to protect what is theirs, while others will point out that 2014 sapphire production methods were 'obvious'.
 
yossi said:
Except the transition to sapphire wont be as revolutionary as the transition to unibody aluminum.
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Maybe, maybe not. We don't know the extent to which sapphire (perhaps in connection with something else that has not yet been mentioned much like liquid metal) will allow very different form factors which incorporate thinner glass or less metal, thus allowing for a significant weight drop.

You also have to remember that the primary target may be wearables (broadly defined) rather than phones. Wearables are likely subject to significantly more random bumping. scuffing and scratching than are phones...
 
newyorksole said:
Gorilla Glass can crack and so can Sapphire Glass. If Sapphire Glass can crack (just like Gorilla Glass) why not use it since it's ALSO scratch/scuff resistant? Scratches and scuffs are very common on iPhones.
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Materials engineering is full of trade-offs.
Compared to standard window glass, both Gorilla Glass and Sapphire glass are scratch resistant and breakage/shatter resistant.
Sapphire glass is *more* scratch resistant than Gorilla Glass. (It takes a harder material to scratch Sapphire glass than Gorilla Glass.)
Gorilla Glass is *more* breakage/shatter resistant than Sapphire glass. (It takes more force to break/shatter Gorilla Glass than Sapphire glass.)

There's been talk of laminating a thin layer of Sapphire glass on top of Gorilla Glass to get a composite material which has the scratch resistance of Sapphire glass and breakage/shatter resistance of Gorilla Glass, but that's still just speculation at this stage. (But, then, so is the rest of this discussion.)
 
whiteboytrash said:
If you look at the attachments you can see that I dropped my phone hard.

The glass backing cracked but the sapphire based camera stayed good. I'm all for sapphire based on this incident.
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I wouldn't be surprised if the result was the same given a separate glass lens. It's probably the fact that it's a separate part which spared it from cracking.
 
I think if the sapphire on the new iPhone will show clear benefits (besides bragging rights) it will also be implemented by other manufacturers sooner or later. I would not use 'copy' here as Vertu has used sapphire on their phones for a long time now.

Personally, I would not buy a watch without sapphire crystal - it is great. I am not sure it will be as beneficial on a phone, but I would not mind to be proven wrong in this regard.
 
An American company actually admitting (implicitly) that there is negative fallout from "outsourcing"?...capitalism dogma being overturned?...history in the making?

Who ever thought "outsourcing" would turn out to be a bad idea...:rolleyes:
 
whiteboytrash said:
If you look at the attachments you can see that I dropped my phone hard.

The glass backing cracked but the sapphire based camera stayed good. I'm all for sapphire based on this incident.
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I'm sure your results would have been the same had you a glass camera and sapphire backing instead.
 
Sapphire, Lux Vue, and extra battery life derived from these two entities could be the big difference in Apples future
 
keysofanxiety said:
Yeah, well cars sound cool and are supposed to be really practical. It is a benefit for people who are lazy. But for people who actually walk, they're unnecessary. :rolleyes:

Honestly though -- how can a more durable phone be a bad thing? If you want your phone made out glass and virgins' tears because you're too perfect to drop it, that's fine -- but don't take the high-ground attitude about it.
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Comparing the use of a car vs walking with the use of sapphire glass vs gorilla glass and getting 36+ votes really got me scared.
So i guess with sapphire i will be able to travel 300 miles in 3 hours instead of 40+ hours that requires with walking since sapphire=car while gorilla= walking based on your ironic comparison :eek: .

As for how durable sapphire is if it drops it will brake as easily as a gorilla glass will do,make no mistake of that,but yes true is more scratch resistant than gorilla.
Lets see when it gets out if it will how much more expensive will be as well,because a protective shield costs like 5$ to put on your phone screen,sapphire glass how much more will it be?
 
SeattleMoose said:
An American company actually admitting (implicitly) that there is negative fallout from "outsourcing"?...capitalism dogma being overturned?...history in the making?

Who ever thought "outsourcing" would turn out to be a bad idea...:rolleyes:
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I retread the entire article and I still can't figure out where in it they refer to outsourcing.
 
Apple innovated with the iPhone and the iPad and everyone copied. Apple sued and didn't get very far. If anyone is to blame for Apple internalizing its processes, rather than relying on 3rd parties, only the 3rd parties, and the legal systems which have failed to respect innovation, can be to blame.

Why else did they create the M7 chip?!

It's going to be an exciting period for Apple, innovating and being able to stretch the margin between themselves, the innovators, and the rest of the competition.

Maybe someone else will start innovating too.
 
whiteboytrash said:
If you look at the attachments you can see that I dropped my phone hard.

The glass backing cracked but the sapphire based camera stayed good. I'm all for sapphire based on this incident.
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There's some fault to your logic (though not arguing whether or not Sapphire or Gorilla is better than the other)

For example, a drop of your phone will put blunt force towards a specific area fo the phone. That trauma would have it's energy radiate outwards from that location along the glass. This is generally what occurs that caused the cracks in your glass.

However, because the camera glass lense is not actually part of the overall piece of glass that received the trauma, the force of that impact will not likely transmit through that piece of glass.

this is likely why your camera lenses remained intact while the back glass did not.'

Whether or not the sapphire glass was the deciding actor in this, is dubious to assert.
 
Shinma said:
Actually that is completely wrong. By definition glass is non-crystaline. It is amorphous. You seem to be equating transparent with glass.
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Have you ever dropped any type of crystal on the ground before and watched it shatter into a million pieces? Sapphire is shatter and break as well. Nothing is like a diamond.
 
n-cholas said:
Apple innovated with the iPhone and the iPad and everyone copied. Apple sued and didn't get very far. If anyone is to blame for Apple internalizing its processes, rather than relying on 3rd parties, only the 3rd parties, and the legal systems which have failed to respect innovation, can be to blame.

Why else did they create the M7 chip?!

It's going to be an exciting period for Apple, innovating and being able to stretch the margin between themselves, the innovators, and the rest of the competition.

Maybe someone else will start innovating too.
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Apple is not innovating at all. Apple is just using existing technology and that's all. Just because using a different material doesn't mean innovating. Maybe using fusion instead of a cell battery would be considered innovating.
 
SeattleMoose said:
An American company actually admitting (implicitly) that there is negative fallout from "outsourcing"?...capitalism dogma being overturned?...history in the making?

Who ever thought "outsourcing" would turn out to be a bad idea...:rolleyes:
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That is completely silly. If it is more profitable to produce in-house rather than outsourcing, how is that an "admission that capitalism is being overturned"?Seriously? There are many reasons that outsourcing can be a bad idea. :rolleyes:
 
bobenhaus said:
Have you ever dropped any type of crystal on the ground before and watched it shatter into a million pieces? Sapphire is shatter and break as well. Nothing is like a diamond.
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I think many are confusing hardness (difficulty to scratch) with toughness (difficulty to shatter). Diamonds shatter pretty easily too.
 
It will be interesting to see, what apple devices will look like in 10 years time. They have already come a long way in the last 10 years.
 
proline said:
You are so, so wrong. Samsung can simply steal the sapphire. After years of holding things up in court a jury will award Apple a day's worth of ill-begotten profits. Meanwhile people will complain for years that Apple has the audacity to try to protect what is theirs, while others will point out that 2014 sapphire production methods were 'obvious'.
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except Samsung is going the flexible display route.
 
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