Jony's iPhone 6 Problem

[greytmom]

I think most of this is just not based in reality. But thank you for taking the time to share.

 

[stasha]

Jony's iphone 6 has NO problem ,period.

 

[markusbeutel]

I'll preface this by saying I really like my 6. Returning to the rounded edges of the original and the gorgeous screen make it a worthy upgrade over my 5.

There are two areas of the phone that just don't seem to have the Jony Ive polish and with all the hoopla around GTAT I have a theory why. We have Apple's precedent of every new phone having 3 things, a larger screen, thinner than the last and lighter than the last (even just slightly). We also have a lead designer spending an ample amount of his time researching watches for the new Apple Watch. The two things that bothered me picking up the 6 for the first time is how light it was and that protruding camera.

So let's follow a theory why. Jony is convinced by his new watch buddies that a premium product like the iPhone should have a sapphire screen like high end watches. Jony convinces Tim to pony up cash to get GTAT up and running for Apple Watch and iPhone screens made of sapphire. So Jony and his team set out making the 6 from the beginning with a sapphire class cover as a design constraint. One thing that we know about sapphire that would effect the whole design of the 6 is it is much heavier than the current glass screen. This places Jony in a tough situation, to keep with the Apple thinner, lighter, bigger he now needs to sacrifice weight alone in the body and battery to meet the so called "Steve Jobs" design iteration standards.

So the team does it. A sapphire screen iPhone 6 that is bigger, very slightly lighter and thinner than the current phone. Much to Jony's better judgment the only way to get to those criteria mean that the camera lense has to stick out. But in his mind that amazing sapphire screen will hide every other fault of the phone. And guess what else sapphire is, much harder than glass and not susceptible to bending...so prototypes are made, tooling ordered and orders placed.

Then the crushing blow comes to the design team, GTAT will not have the sapphire ready for launch due to either manufacturing, yields, finishing or whatever. Apple scrambles to get Gorilla Glass on order for the 6 to be able to launch on time. Jony for the first time in his career since Steve has to release a phone he is unhappy with since GTAT is not pressured by Steve. Losing the sapphire makes the phone too light in the hand, that protruding camera (which he tried to hide in photos) looks ridiculous from a design standpoint and Bendgate is born from a less rigid phone. Jony in a last ditch move to save face convinces Tim to move the Apple Watch launch up to the iPhone launch even though it's not fully operational. He removes himself from the iPhone other than the mandatory "the most beautiful phone ever" tagline and goes on and on about the research, beauty and design of his new Apple Watch.

I'll get the mandatory "Cool story Bro" and "I didn't read all that but I'll reply anyway" out of the way, what does everyone think?

They used 'ion-strengthened' glass in the iPhone 6/6+

While Gorilla Glass is the best known brand of 'ion-strengthened' glass, I think they would have made a point to state that they were in fact using Gorilla Glass - the fact that they didn't, leads me to believe that the glass on the iPhones isn't quite top-quality which could be playing a roll in the bending issues IMO.

 

[skinned66]

Jony Ive died in a car crash last year but Apple covered it up and a lookalike named Billy Shears is now head of design

BJ

This post was beautiful. I had a good LOL.

 

[brand]

We have Apple's precedent of every new phone having 3 things, a larger screen, thinner than the last and lighter than the last (even just slightly).

You obviously don't have a clue since there have been 10 different models of the iPhone yet there have only been 4 different screen sizes. Prior to the two new screen sizes releases within the last month there only 2 different screen sizes for the 8 different models to that point.

 

[McGiord]

What si the weight difference (density) between sapphire and glass?

Aren't the 5S home button and the camera exterior Lens made of sapphire too?

Why this company went bankrupt??

 

[myscrnnm]

What si the weight difference (density) between sapphire and glass?

Aren't the 5S home button and the camera exterior Lens made of sapphire too?

Why this company went bankrupt??

Glass tends to have a density of anywhere from 2.47 to 2.63g/cm3. Sapphire is a bit denser at 3.98g/cm3. That is of course, mostly pure sapphire. I believe the sapphire used in such applications would have other elements that bring down the density of the overall display.

And yes, the 5S and beyond have camera lenses and home buttons made of sapphire.

GTAT is now filing for bankruptcy because they couldn't pay off their creditors. I imagine part of it is poor management.

 

[McGiord]

The cost of sapphire is 3-4 times gorilla glass?
http://www.cultofmac.com/267068/everything-wanted-know-sapphire-glass-afraid-ask-qa/

Glass is highly flexible.

 

[mcdj]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but at no place or time has Apple ever officially, or even unofficially, stated that they intended to put sapphire screens on iPhones.

When it came out that Apple was investing in sapphire production, the rumor mills assumed it was for the phone. I had always figured it was for the rumored watch.

After the watch announcement, I was somewhat surprised to see that not all the watches they're producing will have sapphire crystals, but I was never surprised that sapphire didn't make onto the iPhone.

To my thinking, sapphire is too durable for a phone. It's like having a titanium disposable lighter. It makes no sense to make a large sheet of a costly material that will outlive the device it's intended for.