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I'm hoping that special, scratch resistant aluminum will make it to the iPhone.
- Thread starter tresmith
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Aluminum is not a very durable metal and it will get scratched. The is no Apple magic here.
It is light and malleable which is why it is used to make the body and wings of aircraft. Stainless is much more resistant to the scratches and dings.
It is light and malleable which is why it is used to make the body and wings of aircraft. Stainless is much more resistant to the scratches and dings.
We are talking about bond at molecular level here so I don't think aluminum added to glass has similar property as aluminum, the same way diamond is much harder than a lump of coal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride
Well, Apple is saying that they've developed a very special and new aluminum alloy for the Apple Watch. They even have made a video explaining the special properties of the new alloy.
In their words:
"For Apple Watch, we created a new alloy of 7000 Series aluminum thats 60 percent stronger than standard alloys. Yet its very light. Together with the Ion-X glass covering the display, it makes the Sport collection watches up to 30 percent lighter than our stainless steel models. Its also exceptionally pure, with a beautifully consistent appearance thats difficult to achieve with traditional aluminum alloys."
In their words:
"For Apple Watch, we created a new alloy of 7000 Series aluminum thats 60 percent stronger than standard alloys. Yet its very light. Together with the Ion-X glass covering the display, it makes the Sport collection watches up to 30 percent lighter than our stainless steel models. Its also exceptionally pure, with a beautifully consistent appearance thats difficult to achieve with traditional aluminum alloys."
LOL @ Apple 'creating' a new alloy. (They should have just used Titanium and been done with it. But that wouldn't have been 'magical' I guess.)
All Apple did was slightly alter the zinc and magnesium percentage content to aluminium, just like the other 600+ registered variations of aluminum alloys on file today.
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Transparent aluminium FTW
We will see soon. But Apple is pulling a marketing thing on those who think they have made aluminum a special way where is will not scratch. There will be some very disappointed people here. Even the stainless will scratch and it is many time harder. I wore stainless Rolex watches for many years and they would get scratched so I could not imagine an aluminum cased watch not getting beat up after six months use. Wearables get a lot of abuse.
I see. I misread the post. We are talking about an aluminum alloy metal for the body, not aluminum oxynitride for the screen.
I have mountain bike handlebar that is made out of an anodized aluminum alloy. It's pretty tough. Stainless steel is more scratch resistant, but is much heavier. Neither would survive drops without scratches. Therefore I would rather have a lighter aluminum alloy that is reasonably hard, than a heavier stainless steel body that is harder.
I have mountain bike handlebar that is made out of an anodized aluminum alloy. It's pretty tough. Stainless steel is more scratch resistant, but is much heavier. Neither would survive drops without scratches. Therefore I would rather have a lighter aluminum alloy that is reasonably hard, than a heavier stainless steel body that is harder.
Even the strong aluminum alloys will still gouge/scratch. I have quite a bit of 6061-T6 armor on my Jeep, while very strong it will still gouge when you drag over rocks. Not really an issue when your talking 3/16" to 1/4" thickness, would takes years of extreme abuse to be any real issue.
We are talking cosmetics here when it come to he phone or watch. It will all be way under 1/4" but rocks should not come into play.
This. Like everything else, it's just marketing by using information that the common person wouldn't know (or bother to look up).
Even within just the 7000 series of aluminum alloys, strength can vary between 40 kpsi and 80 kpsi, so it's easy to come up with one that's "60% stronger than standard alloys (*)". In fact, that'd be less strong than many already available alloys.
(*) Unlike the video, in one Apple web page, it doesn't even use the word "alloy", but instead says that it's "60 percent stronger than most aluminum." Gee, that's even easier to do. The most common aluminum is the 6000 series, which starts at around 17 kpsi for tensile strength.
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Aluminum won't be very scratch proof, the stainless steel frame of the iPhone 4 is a lot more scratch resistant then the aluminium they have used in all iPhones after and I would suspect this Apple Watch too.
Nowhere in this language is scratch resistance mentioned. I don't think Apple is making any claims about that.
"60 percent stronger" is probably a nod towards people fearing that an aluminum watch might bend or dent too easily. Of course, we'll have to see how this plays out when people actually wear them.
If the strength claim is true, it would still be nice to see this aluminum on iPhones, hopefully to put an end to bendghazi.
Aluminum is not scratch resistant no matter what series, anodizing makes it more scratch resistant depending on the grade of anodization. Aluminum is not stronger than steel whether 6000, 7000, or 8000 series. Aluminum is stiffer than steel as it does not flex easily, and is more prone to stress weakening failure, fractures, or permanent bends. Alloyed steel is stronger and can be tempered to extreme hardness (brittle) or springiness (flex). If a material flexes it resists bending. No material is scratch resistant, but ceramics can be relatively scratch resistant. Titanium coating on steel can make it more scratch resistant as other coatings, and steel can be refinished if uncoated, while the anodization of aluminum cannot, and just wears off after a while when subjected to wear.
Titanium would be an ideal alloy as it is light, flexes and has the most resistance to stress weakening. Would like to hear of the alloys used in the common 7000 series aluminum that Apple claims to have developed into un-obtainium..
Titanium would be an ideal alloy as it is light, flexes and has the most resistance to stress weakening. Would like to hear of the alloys used in the common 7000 series aluminum that Apple claims to have developed into un-obtainium..