Some people love Apple too much to the extent that they have no clue about anything else. Did you know that Vertu phones have been using sapphire glass laminate for 15 years now? There is no technical innovation here.
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Apple's Move to Revolutionize Sapphire Manufacturing Likely to Leave Competitors Behind
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Some people love Apple too much to the extent that they have no clue about anything else. Did you know that Vertu phones have been using sapphire glass laminate for 15 years now? There is no technical innovation here.
More like they will have one two months before, but miss the target completely:
Samsung sapphire engagement rings S5s
I don't think anyone is claiming that Apple invented sapphire crystal or the like, but they might have patented new manufacturing methods. Also they did patent a specific way to coat sapphire glass with an oleophobic layer.
In this case, it is GT Advanced Technologies that developed the process and does the manufacturing. Apple is simply giving them a credit to buy the equipment (or something like this). GT is just one of the players in this field. Nothing special. It is not clear where the title " Apple's Move to Revolutionize Sapphire Manufacturing" is coming from at all.
So a friend of mine who is a materials guy was explaining to me why sapphire is more "shatter" resistant than gorilla glass. His explanation makes sense to me:
Sapphire is NOT as flexible as Gorilla glass; however it does have some flexibility. But phones screens DO NOT SHATTER because they were flexed beyond their tolerance. Look at the Corning video that they show how flexible gorilla glass is, it bends nearly to the curve of a banana; but on a phone the glass is attached to a rigid phone body; Do you think when you drop your iPhone it bends that much? He explained then phone screens "shatter" i.e. Spider-crack across the screen due to being essentially "Crushed" against some hard surface (usually point pressure, i.e landing on a corner or rock etc...) This causes essentially a "chip" which due to glass' properties(harmonics) this propagates spider-web-cracks all over the screen.
He says that sapphire is much more resistant to initial "chips" far less likely for those "chips" to cause spider-cracks.
Just some input
Wow Apple invented Aluminium
The original article is a complete joke.
It's written like Apple invented aluminium, or at least machined aluminium. And what they did made cheaper for everyone.....
What about the millions of extruded and machined aluminium components in cars and planes. That makes Apples use look like a home project.
The comments about sapphire are more sensible, but I had already decided Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities was an idiot.
The original article is a complete joke.
It's written like Apple invented aluminium, or at least machined aluminium. And what they did made cheaper for everyone.....
What about the millions of extruded and machined aluminium components in cars and planes. That makes Apples use look like a home project.
The comments about sapphire are more sensible, but I had already decided Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities was an idiot.
The analogy was made to point out how ridiculous the notion that an ultra high res screen was "useless" because low-resolution screens are "just fine."
So I'm pretty sure I got it right.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Apparently "thin" is more important as a marketing benefit to spin in that one presentation and for many of us who are snowed into automatically calling out "I hope it is thinner" as if we actually believe there is some benefit for us consumers (when I think it's much more about knowing Apple is going there and "we" like to be right).
Personally, I think the 5s is plenty thin enough. I don't see anyone griping about its onerous thickness getting in the way of usability. If the phone is going to grow taller & wider to support a bigger screen, that space could be filled with a more robust battery. Instead though, we'll keep racing toward paper thin for what (benefit) exactly?
I predict eventually the battery will be kicked out altogether because it takes up the most space and costs the most weight. Get rid of it and they can make a future iPhone much thinner and much lighter. It will be much like kicking the superdrive out of an iMac to yield those thinner edges. Sure both scenarios cut consumer utility (but not price). And like Superdrive was spun as "just buy an external" the lack of a battery will be spun as "most people buy a battery case to their liking anyway; now everyone can get exactly the right amount of battery that meets their own needs." with maybe a few references to "99.999% want to pick their own battery" too.
Actually I have. I work weekly with crystalline substrates. I also rock climb on highly crystalline quartzite and am well aware of the forces it can take. I work with silicon, quartz, calcium fluoride, germanium, and sapphire on a regular basis in my job, in addition to a variety of glass materials. Some you can't hold by the edge without it breaking and some you can throw on the ground as hard as you want. While diamond is unique, sapphire is also not run of the mill. It is very durable compared to most materials. Don't assume all crystals with the exception of diamond are the same. I'm not here to make a case for sapphire over Gorilla Glass, and who knows what the final embodiment of any Apple device using sapphire will be, but I am trying to stop some of the misinformation.
I personally think a material going from being an expensive, niche (and/or luxury) component to being common place among the consumer market is revolutionizingassuming the material offers some benefit to the consumer. In the case of Aluminum it was using novel (to the consumer market) processes to balance aluminums weight and heat dissipation with better rigidity. Apple's non uni-body Aluminum laptops were very prone to dents.
The article is not saying Apple invented anything. The Industrial Revolution did not invent textiles but it did revolutionize their manufacture and usage by implementing mass-production.
I love how everyone is expecting this to add to the cost of the phone. It shouldn't. Given they are using the Flame method production is dirt cheap, being around 5 cents a carat.
They are using the cheapest and quickest method to produce the man made sapphire so if they jack the cost up then they are just money grabbing.
the technology and methodology has existed for years before anyone start harping on about R7D.
They are using the cheapest and quickest method to produce the man made sapphire so if they jack the cost up then they are just money grabbing.
the technology and methodology has existed for years before anyone start harping on about R7D.
I'm holding out for the Transparent aluminum edition myself, really we should have had it since the 1980's.
everyone here is getting excited about the new manufacturing method and they will be excited about the fact that its being coated in a specific way with an enoleophobic layer?
most here (including me) didnt know sapphire has been used in a cell phone before. they (not including me) are in fact excited because they think apple invented and its something they can brag about, as anything less than sapphire glass in a device will suddenly be the worst thing ever
Every time I see that image of the hunk of sapphire glass, I want to bite into it as if it were a mint or 7-Up flavored gummy candy.
Clearly you don't live in LA
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.
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.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Edible iPhone 9. Eat it when you're hungry, buy a replacement at any Apple store.
Multiple sales every year to each customer = Apple stock at about triple current levels.
One of the biggest double down secrets is now out.
And this does qualify as "a new category" as Apple has never had edible technology before.
It's more scratch proof but more prone to shattering. It's not necessarily better unless they've invented some new process. I can't see them using this on a phone screen except for marketing reasons. This is much likely for a wearable of some kind and lenses.
Watches get scraped and caught on things all the time but they almost never get dropped. Every time my Omega has scraped a wall I have cringed but in the years I have owned it, not one visible scratch has appeared.... I wouldn't want to drop it though. Phones get dropped all the time.
The question is how well it will stack up against Gorilla Glass 3. It appears to be more scratch resistant and 3x harder, but also more likely to shatter when dropped if both screens are unscratched. The question for Apple is whether it's worth the cost in the end and for the consumer whether that's going to sell them on the iPhone over a Samsung imitation that costs much less and can take standard connections like SD cards and USB ports while Apple insists on not letting anyone do anything that doesn't involve them getting 30% of the take on the iPhone store (i.e. why you can't use your iPhone as a storage drive any more as one example; they don't want you having file access so it's easier to jailbreak, etc.).
The point wasn't that Apple invented Sapphire Glass, they also didn't invent aluminum. The point of the article is that Apple will be the first company to figure out how to mass produce it affordably. Apple will sell more iphone 6's in the first hour it's available than Vertu has sold in 15 years. Also Vertu definitely did not worry about the cost of the components as the phones have sold for over $10,000.
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When did Galaxy S phones start costing less than iPhones? I promise you that Apple has done 100x more research on this than you or I. They know what they're doing.
Samsung has the money to build sapphire manufacturing plants. Now that Apple has done it, expect Samsung to follow.
I'll wait to pass judgement on Sapphire glass from Apple once it ships and some reputable reviews surface. My guess is that it'll be quite amazing and worth owning else they wouldn't be investing in it so heavily.
Some of the negative and seemingly authoritative comments on this topic make me wonder if any Corning or Samsung trolls are posting.
Some of the negative and seemingly authoritative comments on this topic make me wonder if any Corning or Samsung trolls are posting.
This is nonsense.
If there's a market demand, someone will produce it. Apple doesn't have a monopoly on sapphire production. Maybe they're a little ahead of the game with their private production facility, but if it is profitable to make it, new techniques will be invented.
That was the whole point of the aluminum example -- Apple created huge demand, and the new technology and processes followed.
If this creates a new spike in demand for sapphire, you can bet the market will react in the same way for other electronics manufacturers who will demand sapphire.
If there's a market demand, someone will produce it. Apple doesn't have a monopoly on sapphire production. Maybe they're a little ahead of the game with their private production facility, but if it is profitable to make it, new techniques will be invented.
That was the whole point of the aluminum example -- Apple created huge demand, and the new technology and processes followed.
If this creates a new spike in demand for sapphire, you can bet the market will react in the same way for other electronics manufacturers who will demand sapphire.
Yeah.. Apple is soooo going leave behind all those other watch makers just because it too makes Sapphire Crystal glass.
This story is totally stupid bogus rubbish, and I wouldn't claim Apple started a revolution in aluminum manufacturing ONE BIT.
If they launch a watch with Sapphire Crystal glass then Apple will only be behind that idea by several decades.
This story is totally stupid bogus rubbish, and I wouldn't claim Apple started a revolution in aluminum manufacturing ONE BIT.
If they launch a watch with Sapphire Crystal glass then Apple will only be behind that idea by several decades.
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