Camera Lens on iPhone 7 not sapphire. [MERGED]

[MarkX]

Sorry if this has already been posted but I couldn't see it in the last few hours worth of topics.

It seems that the camera lens isn't sapphire on the 7 as it was on the 6s!

What's people's thoughts?

 

[Stiss]

Sorry if this has already been posted but I couldn't see it in the last few hours worth of topics.

It seems that the camera lens isn't sapphire on the 7 as it was on the 6s!

What's people's thoughts?

What's the source on this?

 

[OriginalStix]

What's the source on this?

Somebody performed scratch tests and was able to scratch the lenses pretty bad with something softer then sapphire.

Sources:
GSM Arena

Apple Insider

 

[jk4lebron23]

i still think it is the anti-glare coating that he scratched off, the phone would need that coating as sapphire isn't great with glare

 

[iPhisch]

iPhone Tech Specs webpage specifically calls out sapphire crystal lens cover for both sized models under the Camera header.
http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/

 

[areyes163]

My thoughts are who cares. Does it work still? Why do we always try to make issues where there are none. It will be fine

 

[gim]

My thoughts are who cares. Does it work still? Why do we always try to make issues where there are none. It will be fine

I can't say how much I hate posts like this. Why care about anything in life? Why care about an expensive smartphone, that does not have the specs the manufacturer promised? This IS an issue. We paid for a smartphone with sapphire covered camera, we don't get one. So stop downplaying something, just because you don't care about wasting money on inferior products.

 

[cwwilson]

I love how many people are conducting these "tests" on the iPhone 7 and are going to turn around and throw them away...meanwhile my 7 Plus is sitting in a warehouse somewhere in China instead of in my hands.

 

[Maleption]

Is there an additional layer of something on top of Sapphire? Or is it sapphire itself?

 

[big samm]

I don't even know if it sapphire anymore, Im also wondering...

 

[Benz63amg]

It's just glass(not sapphire) from the reports I read, disappointing since I got the 7 plus but not a deal breaker

Does the camera of the 7 plus have a film/sticker on top of it out of the box? I thought it had a film that needs to be peeled off when I took it out of the box yesterday but it appears like it's just the way the lens appears under certain lighting

 

[MrBukey]

I don't even know if it sapphire anymore, Im also wondering...

The lens is Sapphire. Schiller confirmed it. Until there's actually evidence otherwise, for whatever reason, it's people spouting BS.

A YouTube video surfaced from someone that makes $$$ and fame by getting views that allegedly shows the lens can't be sapphire. What it definitely shows is some kind of scratching with a tool he uses on a lens cover. Whether he used the right tool (not saying he lied, there could be a reasonable explanation) is just one question, whether it was the scratching coated is another, whether synthetic sapphire scratches easier is yet another.

A company like Apple wouldn't purposefully falsely advertise - it would cost them too much money through the courts of too many countries, as well as loss of reputation.

Sometimes people see what they want to see - and sometimes people have multiple reasons to create videos. Until there's a properly scientific, repeatable and verified set of tests, including molecular make-up, I wouldn't rely on a YouTube video.
[doublepost=1474307525][/doublepost]

It's just glass(not sapphire) from the reports I read, disappointing since I got the 7 plus but not a deal breaker

Does the camera of the 7 plus have a film/sticker on top of it out of the box? I thought it had a film that needs to be peeled off when I took it out of the box yesterday but it appears like it's just the way the lens appears under certain lighting

And what reports are those? Video blogs and forum posts....

It's sapphire. You should want proper scientific evidence before thinking otherwise....

 

[Jetro]

It's just glass(not sapphire) from the reports I read, disappointing since I got the 7 plus but not a deal breaker

Does the camera of the 7 plus have a film/sticker on top of it out of the box? I thought it had a film that needs to be peeled off when I took it out of the box yesterday but it appears like it's just the way the lens appears under certain lighting

They don't put small stickers on it like some androids have. I watched several unboxings on YouTube. I also watched a guy scratch the lens on a 7 and it scratched at a glass hardness level not sapphire.

 

[Benz63amg]

The lens is Sapphire. Schiller confirmed it. Until there's actually evidence otherwise, for whatever reason, it's people spouting BS.

A YouTube video surfaced from someone that makes $$$ and fame by getting views that allegedly shows the lens can't be sapphire. What it definitely shows is some kind of scratching with a tool he uses on a lens cover. Whether he used the right tool (not saying he lied, there could be a reasonable explanation) is just one question, whether it was the scratching coated is another, whether synthetic sapphire scratches easier is yet another.

A company like Apple wouldn't purposefully falsely advertise - it would cost them too much money through the courts of too many countries, as well as loss of reputation.

Sometimes people see what they want to see - and sometimes people have multiple reasons to create videos. Until there's a properly scientific, repeatable and verified set of tests, including molecular make-up, I wouldn't rely on a YouTube video.
[doublepost=1474307525][/doublepost]

And what reports are those? Video blogs and forum posts....

It's sapphire. You should want proper scientific evidence before thinking otherwise....

I agree the only reports are the blogs and users who did testing,

I would personally like to believe it's sapphire took because under the spec page on apple.com it states that the lens cover is actually sapphire on the iPhone 7 so it contradicts the actual spec info if the camera lens was to be actually made or glass instead

 

[cc999]

From Apple site Tech Specs for Iphone 7/7plus:

Both models:

• Optical image stabilization
• Six‑element lens
• Quad-LED True Tone flash
• Panorama (up to 63 megapixels)
• Sapphire crystal lens cover

It has the sapphire crystal lens cover!

CC

 

[sekazi]

I have been trying to find a proper scratch test of the 6 or 6s to compare to the one does to the 7.

 

[entraik]

There are videos of the lens breaking from a drop and being scratched by a level 6 pick. It IS NOT Sapphire. Phil is a liar or just clueless

 

[sekazi]

If the lens was sapphire then the lens would shatter much easier than glass so it breaking in tests means nothing.

 

[Mlrollin91]

There are videos of the lens breaking from a drop and being scratched by a level 6 pick. It IS NOT Sapphire. Phil is a liar or just clueless

Sapphire glass is more prone to breaking than regular glass. Thats well known. Sapphire is scratch resistant but not shatter resistant. Ion-x glass is more shatter resistant but not scratch resistant. Regardless, I don't trust a random youtuber running a scratch test. You can easily remove the pick and put a harder one in the casing, or put an additional something on the camera lens to make it look like it scratches easier.

 

[Atomic Walrus]

There are videos of the lens breaking from a drop and being scratched by a level 6 pick. It IS NOT Sapphire. Phil is a liar or just clueless

Just to be clear, sapphire actually cracks more easily than glass. Harder = more brittle = shattering. As for the scratch test, it's interesting but we need to see more tests. One is insufficient because the tools used might not be well standardized to the stated hardness.

 

[MrBukey]

There are videos of the lens breaking from a drop and being scratched by a level 6 pick. It IS NOT Sapphire. Phil is a liar or just clueless

Absolute rubbish. Prove a level 6 pick was used - you know, get the actual pick that was used and get it independently verified.

It amazes me to think that you would believe that Apple and Phil Schiller would lie about this - or be clueless to this - at the risk of their reputation, potential future sales, and class-action suits - as well as false advertising by various official bodies in many countries (eg Trading Standards in the UK and the FCC in the US, to name just two).... Not to mention specific legal action that could be taken against individual execs (like Phil Schiller).

YET... You can't even entertain that a YouTuber could have picked up the wrong pick by accident, purposefully manipulated the situation by using a wrong pick or putting the wrong pick on a different handle, got a handset with a manufacturing defect, or anything else that might explain the situation.... Especially when the lens drop test seems to suggest it is sapphire....

 

[areyes163]

The video from JerryRigEverything is absolutely credible. He does these reviews for every major phone out there. The same test every time. So if he says the lens is not Sapphire then I believe him. He did the same test for ten Note 7 and found issues with that also. And the Note 7 crowd loyalist called him a liar also. He is very reputable. I owned a Note 7 also and I believed him. My 7 plus will be here tomorrow and I also believe the lens is not sapphire. It may be a oversight on Apples part. Or maybe some units got a wrong piece (which I find had to believe ). Either way I do believe his video. Here's the link.

 

[MrBukey]

The video from JerryRigEverything is absolutely credible. He does these reviews for every major phone out there. The same test every time. So if he says the lens is not Sapphire then I believe him. He did the same test for ten Note 7 and found issues with that also. And the Note 7 crowd loyalist called him a liar also. He is very reputable. I owned a Note 7 also and I believed him. My 7 plus will be here tomorrow and I also believe the lens is not sapphire. It may be a oversight on Apples part. Or maybe some units got a wrong piece (which I find had to believe ). Either way I do believe his video. Here's the link.

So, he did a laboratory test that included a molecular make-up did he?

He's tested multiple units from multiple batches to confirm that the test is repeatable and not just a single unit defect did he?

He's had someone else carry out the tests in a verifiable manner to show the same results has he?

Oh - he hasn't? What, none of those things?

Therefore this video shows just what you see. It doesn't prove that it's not sapphire at all.

Ergo the video in itself has not proved that it is credible.

 

[sekazi]

YET... You can't even entertain that a YouTuber could have picked up the wrong pick by accident, purposefully manipulated the situation by using a wrong pick or putting the wrong pick on a different handle, got a handset with a manufacturing defect, or anything else that might explain the situation.... Especially when the lens drop test seems to suggest it is sapphire....

The pick he had in hand said 6. The only ways he could have got it wrong was mistakenly put the wrong pick in when replacing the 6 or he could have done it deliberately.

 

[Jetro]

I think it's not really sapphire. It will be up to Apple to explain why it scratched at level 6 and not 9.