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viewfly

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2009
1,263
24
Really? One video tells no one anything? So you go an post one PIC that says a whole lot less? Sorry again, but that drop test video said a whole lot more than your one pic of an HTC Evo with a shattered screen. To bad you don't have a video showing how that screen got shattered. Do you have a video of a phone with Gorilla Glass being shattered from a waist high or shoulder high drop, like the video I posted? Otherwise your pic says nothing on how it got shattered. Nice try though.

I think the best thing about your post was you said: "Apple is about form AND function."

But then you go on to say. "Given the weight and exposed corners of the 4 line breakage is easier when the corners are hit."

That's hilarious. I guess if Apple really did care more about function you would have that pathetic problem of easy to break and shatter from a simple drop.

Look at my post above, based on 20,000 phones.

I show the photo to convince you that other phone do break. And I saw this phone break from waist high.

You are just completely wrong on this one. Sorry.
 

JAT

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2001
6,473
124
Mpls, MN
Sorry explain the video in my post just before your post. Galaxy S2 is known for using Gorilla Glass, and it came out with no scratches to is glass display. Apple has always been a company about form over function. Shattered iPhones and antenna gate are just a few examples of this.
Your conclusion is based on incomplete recognition of the facts. And apparently, you are quite proud of that....
But then you go on to say. "Given the weight and exposed corners of the 4 line breakage is easier when the corners are hit."

That's hilarious.
It is hilarious that you think the exposed corners don't matter to impact resistance. That's just basic physics of glass. Or any substance, really. So, if you don't like that, get a phone without exposed glass corners. Apple makes one, too.
 

goMac

Contributor
Apr 15, 2004
7,662
1,694
AGAIN, until Apple says they use Gorilla Glass, THEY DON'T.
Anything else is just an assumption. This is a FACT.

They do. They did say it on their site, and they also said it in the Jobs autobiography.

Apple said they use Gorilla Glass, therefore it is a fact.

I mean, seriously. It was known they use it since the very first iPhone. They rejected glass prototypes for the original iPhone and went with plastic until Gorilla Glass swooped in and saved the day. It was a big story back then. They even had to issue a new press release a few weeks before the original launch to say they switched to Gorilla Glass at the last minute.
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
They do. They did say it on their site, and they also said it in the Jobs autobiography.

Apple said they use Gorilla Glass, therefore it is a fact.

Apple has never said they used Gorilla Glass.

They have only said that they used the same glass materials as "helicopters" and "high speed trains". (Of course, the glass in those applications is a lot thicker, but hey, it's marketing.) Such glass is often an aluminosilicate type like Gorilla Glass is.

Isaacson implies in the biography that the original used Gorilla Glass, but he could easily be mixing up something that happened later on.

It should be possible for a chemist to check an original phone glass. Any takers? :)

I mean, seriously. It was known they use it since the very first iPhone. They rejected glass prototypes for the original iPhone and went with plastic until Gorilla Glass swooped in and saved the day. It was a big story back then. They even had to issue a new press release a few weeks before the original launch to say they switched to Gorilla Glass at the last minute.

Apple originally showed off the iPhone with a plastic screen. For the next five months, people complained on the internet that plastic would scratch like it did on iPods. We know that Jobs was often hurt by complaints like this, so he likely didn't want them to besmirch the debut.

A week before the iPhone went on sale, Apple announced that they had switched to glass. At the time, Apple simply said it was "optical quality". They made no claims at the time that it was anything special or stronger. Those claims came along years later when they did switch to stronger glass.
 
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goMac

Contributor
Apr 15, 2004
7,662
1,694
Apple has never said they used Gorilla Glass.

Right.... It's some OTHER glass that happens to be made by Corning in Kentucky and New York in the same factories that make Gorilla Glass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla_Glass

In 2006, Apple Inc. was developing what was to be the first model of the iPhone. Though initially it was to have a hard plastic screen, Steve Jobs found that when placed in his pocket his keys scratched the prototype's surface. Jobs was outraged and resolved to find a glass that was scratch-resistant enough that iPhone buyers wouldn't have the same problem.[6][7]
Jobs ended up contacting the CEO of Corning, Wendell Weeks and told him that Apple needed a light yet strong enough glass screen for use in their consumer devices. Weeks told him of the "gorilla glass" that the company had developed in the 1960s but had since been mothballed. Jobs convinced Weeks to immediately put the glass into production for use in the upcoming iPhone. Despite initial skepticism on Weeks' part that Corning could do so and also be able to manufacture enough screens in time for the iPhone's pending release, they did in fact achieve these aims within six months. Corning's Harrodsburg, Kentucky factory was able to supply enough "gorilla glass" screens for Apple's iPhone release in June 2007.

Gorilla Glass is mentioned by name in the Jacobson biography.
 

/user/me

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2011
496
0
AGAIN, until Apple says they use Gorilla Glass, THEY DON'T.
Anything else is just an assumption. This is a FACT.

Even if they're using it and not advertising it? Will my iPhone morph into something different once they announce if they are? I'd be excited for that! I've never seen transfiguration!!!!
 

viewfly

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2009
1,263
24
Apple has never said they used Gorilla Glass.

They have only said that they used the same glass materials as "helicopters" and "high speed trains". (Of course, the glass in those applications is a lot thicker, but hey, it's marketing.) Such glass is often an aluminosilicate type like Gorilla Glass is.

Isaacson implies in the biography that the original used Gorilla Glass, but he could easily be mixing up something that happened later on.

It should be possible for a chemist to check an original phone glass. Any takers? :)



Apple originally showed off the iPhone with a plastic screen. For the next five months, people complained on the internet that plastic would scratch like it did on iPods. We know that Jobs was often hurt by complaints like this, so he likely didn't want them to besmirch the debut.

A week before the iPhone went on sale, Apple announced that they had switched to glass. At the time, Apple simply said it was "optical quality". They made no claims at the time that it was anything special or stronger. Those claims came along years later when they did switch to stronger glass.

Nope you have your facts wrong. Corning CEO even mentions the gorilla glass starting with the first iPhone. Amazing the spin being made to deny this.

"It is well known that most full touch-screen smartphones on the market today feature a scratch resistant display coating called the 'Gorilla Glass.' Made by a New York based company Corning Glass, the Gorilla Glass allows smartphone makers to feature a large piece of display on the front of their device without the risk of excessive breakdowns or scratches. While this may seem like a easy fix today, back in 2006-2007 when Apple was gearing up for the original iPhone launch, this wasn't that simple.

Steve Jobs biography reveals his interactions with Corning Glass while creating a display for the iPhone that is "strong an resistant to scratches." While the logical place to look for any component is Asia, John Seeley Brown a friend of Steve Jobs, introduced him to Corning CEO Wendell Weeks. This marked the beginning of what went on to change Corning's fortunes and offer manufactures a tough glass not just for smartphones, but tablets, laptops and even TV sets.

In the 1960's Corning developed a chemical exchange process, which lead to the tough glass known as 'Gorilla Glass,' but Corning failed to find a market for the same and had quit making it altogether. Jobs jumped on the opportunity and offered to buyout all the Gorilla Glass that Corning could supply in the next six months, but since none of the plants that Corning operated were manufacturing this glass, the supply was in doubt. Jobs persisted and pushed Weeks to divert resources on the Gorilla Glass and eventually they were able to meet the demand in less than six months.

The first iPhone shipped in 2007 and the rest is history. It resulted in a mini-panic within the smartphone industry. While the entire industry jumped on the full touchscreen smartphone bandwagon, Corning made hay while the sun shined. Almost all smartphone makers looking for a good solution to strengthen their touchscreen ended up using the Gorilla Glass. We have seen the Gorilla Glass finding its way to notebooks and in all probability Apple might be using the same technology in its other product lines like the iPad and the MacBooks as well.

Wendell Weeks is quoted saying "We produced a glass that had never been made." And a prized possession that he has today is the memento framed on display, it is a message from Steve Jobs that reads "We couldn't have done it without you" ... sent on the day when the original iPhone was launched. Corning's website may not mention Apple as a client or the iPhones as a product featuring Gorilla Glass. Rather it features a long list of manufactures using the Gorilla Glass and dozens of products using the same. Apple's role was silent, away from public attention and never advertised. Yes Apple reinvented the Gorilla Glass, just one of the many small things that changed the face of the smartphone industry."
 

throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,831
6,997
Perth, Western Australia
I'm guessing apple released this info recently as samsung or HTC (i forget) recently did a comparison sheet ad type thing bragging they had gorilla glass, and the iPhone 4/4-S did not.


edit:
iPhone glass breaking is luck of the draw. I dropped my 3g and 3g-s plenty of times before getting even a single crack in the screen. And i'm talking from waist height onto bitumen, tiles, whatever. I never use cases. The irony is that my 3g finally died (white screen only) when falling out of my shirt pocket onto carpet from a height of around 2 feet...

My 4-S has fallen onto tiles, from about that height and has a (very) small chunk of plastic missing from the bottom left edge of the screen and some shiny marks on the stainless band around it.

On the other hand, my GF dropped her 4-S a couple of days ago and shattered the back panel. It still works fine. Both of our 4-S iPhones have had multiple drops on a regular basis, just not often onto tiles or concrete - and they still function perfectly.

It really is luck of the draw. However, in my experience, I've found the iPhone 3/3-g/4-s to be the most durable phones I have ever owned (previously had Nokias, LG and an Ericsson).
 
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Timzer

macrumors 6502
Nov 10, 2011
334
0
What is the matter with some of you who insist that Apple uses Gorilla Glass? Show me where Apple itself has said it is using Gorilla Glass. Don't tell me how it is mentioned in some book or worse yet, Wikipedia.:rolleyes: Show me where on Apple's website or Corning's website it shows that the iPhone uses Gorilla Glass, and not just some glass made by corning. Corning makes a lot of glass, not all is given the Gorilla Glass stamp. Just because Apple lists corning on their supply list; it means absolutely nothing in terms of the use of Gorilla Glass.
Think about it. Why does Apple not just come out and say they are using Gorilla Glass? It's because they DON'T. There is no reason to hide that they are using Gorilla Glass. There is nothing to gain by keeping it a secret. Almost every mobile manufacturer is now using it in their mid to high end devices. And it's also listed in the specs on those manufactures' website as well as corning's website. So stop the wishful thinking that your precious iPhone is using Gorilla Glass. If Apple doesn't say it, then it ain't it so. It doesn't get more logical than that. And if you still can't accept this, enjoy the unicorn chase.
 
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viewfly

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2009
1,263
24
I guess you guys never win at the game of Clue? If you wish to be literal, there is no mgfr website that says they make any front glass for the iPhone. So I guess that means there is no glass there?

But there is plenty of non-website information out there, from the sources themselves. -ViewFly
---------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some excerpts the recent NYtimes story about Foxconn in China and manufacturing over there: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?hpw

In 2007, a little over a month before the iPhone was scheduled to appear in stores, Mr. Jobs beckoned a handful of lieutenants into an office. For weeks, he had been carrying a prototype of the device in his pocket.

Mr. Jobs angrily held up his iPhone, angling it so everyone could see the dozens of tiny scratches marring its plastic screen, according to someone who attended the meeting. He then pulled his keys from his jeans.

People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. “I won’t sell a product that gets scratched,” he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. “I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks.”

After one executive left that meeting, he booked a flight to Shenzhen, China. If Mr. Jobs wanted perfect, there was nowhere else to go.

The impact of such advantages became obvious as soon as Mr. Jobs demanded glass screens in 2007.

For years, cellphone makers had avoided using glass because it required precision in cutting and grinding that was extremely difficult to achieve. Apple had already selected an American company, Corning Inc., to manufacture large panes of strengthened glass. But figuring out how to cut those panes into millions of iPhone screens required finding an empty cutting plant, hundreds of pieces of glass to use in experiments and an army of midlevel engineers. It would cost a fortune simply to prepare.

Then a bid for the work arrived from a Chinese factory.

When an Apple team visited, the Chinese plant’s owners were already constructing a new wing. “This is in case you give us the contract,” the manager said, according to a former Apple executive. The Chinese government had agreed to underwrite costs for numerous industries, and those subsidies had trickled down to the glass-cutting factory. It had a warehouse filled with glass samples available to Apple, free of charge. The owners made engineers available at almost no cost. They had built on-site dormitories so employees would be available 24 hours a day.

Manufacturing glass for the iPhone revived a Corning factory in Kentucky, and today, much of the glass in iPhones is still made there. After the iPhone became a success, Corning received a flood of orders from other companies hoping to imitate Apple’s designs. Its strengthened glass sales have grown to more than $700 million a year, and it has hired or continued employing about 1,000 Americans to support the emerging market.

But as that market has expanded, the bulk of Corning’s strengthened glass manufacturing has occurred at plants in Japan and Taiwan.

“Our customers are in Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China,” said James B. Flaws, Corning’s vice chairman and chief financial officer. “We could make the glass here, and then ship it by boat, but that takes 35 days. Or, we could ship it by air, but that’s 10 times as expensive. So we build our glass factories next door to assembly factories, and those are overseas.”


----------------------------------------------

Okay, so this is the story people have come up with:

Steve Jobs meets with Corning CEO Winks and convinces them to restart a plant to revive a 20 year old strengthened Corning glass (whose patents have expired, 20 years later) that Corning found no market for.

Corning says, but wait, we have plenty of glass now, why do you want a 20 year old product? We even have this new glass....Steve interrupts, and Jobs jumps up and down and says, NO, I want the old stuff and I will buy every piece of it you make. Corning shrugs its shoulders, sighs, and says, 'you're paying for it' , so Okay.

The iPhone is a success, with the first successful real glass screen- scratch resistant, even though it was actually made for it's bending/breaking strength. Everyone inside the industry hears about what Apple and Corning did. Apple helps Corning start a new $700M business line...Corning is very appreciative.

After fooling around with plastic screens, other smartphone mgfr race to Corning for the same glass. Corning says to them...hold on...don't you know that we have this really wonderful new glass that Apple refused to use, called Gorilla Glass? Do you really want that old stuff.

Apple competitors bang their collective hands to their head: 'Holy cow, we finally outsmarted Apple' Man this is great, we got the better stuff. How could they have overlooked this. Corning says, yeah, screw Apple.

So to this day, Apple is using the crappy 20 year old stuff, and the competitors are using the brand new Gorilla Glass (err, rebranded, but the same 20 year old stuff).

So I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to you...never mind what you hear...I DO actually have a signed deed right here....:D:D:D
 
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cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
Why do we want it to be gorilla glass? It's not that good by today's standards, dragontrail, gorilla glass 2, lotus glass.

Apple doesn't admit it's gorilla glass because they would be admitting using a dated sub standard technology.
 

JAT

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2001
6,473
124
Mpls, MN
Why do we want it to be gorilla glass? It's not that good by today's standards, dragontrail, gorilla glass 2, lotus glass.

Apple doesn't admit it's gorilla glass because they would be admitting using a dated sub standard technology.
Good question, I couldn't care less. They all seem pretty good.

Although I would say Apple doesn't reveal it because they (almost) never reveal such specifics. For example, iFixit or such places are how we know certain Samsung and LG displays are in iDevices. Some of these parts are easy to identify, the glass is not since there is no sticker or anything.

I don't think they regularly identified even their suppliers until the world blew up over "responsibility" issues.
 

viewfly

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2009
1,263
24
Real question is why do so many want it NOT to be gorilla glass against all logic.
 

dccorona

macrumors 68020
Jun 12, 2008
2,033
1
In all honesty, the poor design of the iPhone 4/4S has to be a black eye for the glass maker. If it was GG, which does a great job at what it's supposed to do, did not impress anyone by shattering due to being dropped on exposed edges.

if you're referencing the back of the phone, I believe that the iPhone uses gorilla glass (or similar strength glass) on only the front of the product. The back is lower quality/strength
 

lucas123

macrumors member
Jul 13, 2010
56
1
Gorilla Glass is not an Apple name.

Apple promotes and sells Apple.

You aren't ever going to see it listed anywhere by Apple as a feature.
 
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