Smartphone Manufacturers 'Lukewarm' on Sapphire, Call Material Impractical Due to Cost and Supply

[kdarling]

The car crushing is probably brutal, and unless we start seeing every iPhone 6 owner trying run over their phones, and say "Look, i could it scratched", , it will stand up to *almost* anything.

What we are probably asking Apple is, "I want my phone to be indestructible" Not going to happen.

As an aside, here's a humorous NY Times story from 2005 where the reviewers repeatedly run over a Vertu Ascent phone with a Porsche Boxster.

(Vertus have always had sapphire screens, and before Apple grabbed up the rights, they used a LiquidMetal chassis.)

 

[cgc]

Fair enough. I do feel bad for you going through life with such weak vision though. Think of all the color and detail your eyes aren't giving you? Cataract surgery might help.

Hehe...you sure are persistent. My mom told me I'd go blind...

 

[Silver78]

I have a strong feeling that apple would not use billions on sapphire if it was not worth it.
The 30$ someone says a sapphire glass costs could still leave the replacement price of a screen the same as now....because if a gorilla screen costs 3$ somebody is making alot of money on screen replacement right now.

I see this as a world tech advancement...

 

[Dr. Weezil]

They meant "impracticable," not "impractical."

 

[fredaroony]

Seen this all before. The competition poo-poos Apple and what they are doing until it becomes extremely popular and the norm. Suddenly everyone else jumps on the same bandwagon.

Just like when Apple said people didn't need a smaller tablet then made one and then said people didn't need bigger phones and now are going to release them...

 

[zonk44]

iPhone already scratchproof

I have really no idea what all this sapphire hype is all about. I'm using an iPhone 5S now and have used an iPhone 4 in the past. I never put on these fancy screen or case protectors on my phone, as they're not needed (What's the deal of having a small phone when wrapping a monstrous leather case around it). I often keep my phone in the same pocket like my keychain. Guess what, the screens of both my iPhone 4 and 5S have zero scratches and still look like they used to look on day 1. The iPhone's display, from the very first launch model on, has been designed to be scratch proof. You can try it out yourself by scratching a key back and forth on the screen with some pressure. I can guarantee you, nothing will happen at all.
Of course, the metal parts of my phones, like on the sides and on the back, are a bit scratched. But I don't care. So what is sapphire exactly for? Will it cover the whole phone or what's the advantage?

 

[fredaroony]

I have really no idea what all this sapphire hype is all about. I'm using an iPhone 5S now and have used an iPhone 4 in the past. I never put on these fancy screen or case protectors on my phone, as they're not needed (What's the deal of having a small phone when wrapping a monstrous leather case around it). I often keep my phone in the same pocket like my keychain. Guess what, the screens of both my iPhone 4 and 5S have zero scratches and still look like they used to look on day 1. The iPhone's display, from the very first launch model on, has been designed to be scratch proof. You can try it out yourself by scratching a key back and forth on the screen with some pressure. I can guarantee you, nothing will happen at all.
Of course, the metal parts of my phones, like on the sides and on the back, are a bit scratched. But I don't care. So what is sapphire exactly for? Will it cover the whole phone or what's the advantage?

The iPhone's screen is not scratch proof....

 

[flatfoot99]

just got stock in this stuff

 

[darngooddesign]

Who cares what smartphone manufacturers want, doesn't it ultimately depend in what consumers want?

Consumers used to want physical keyboards on phones.

 

[Porsupah]

Some additional ponderings on that video, courtesy of folks with some background in materials science:

http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...hire-says-materials-expert-who-spoke-to-apple

 

[Konrad9]

If Apple is able and willing to spend dollars on new tech that other companies find impractical due to cost and supply, that does give them an advantage... Not sure why you think their comment makes no sense.

Except this article was pointing out Sapphire's problems... you just said Apple is great because they use an "impractical" material.

 

[kerrikins]

Except this article was pointing out Sapphire's problems... you just said Apple is great because they use an "impractical" material.

The article is pointing out that sapphire is costly and it's hard to get quality in the supply chain. Apple has the money and the desire to fix those two issues, so this could be an advantage for them. Nobody has attempted to do with sapphire what Apple is attempting, or on this level.

 

[flatfoot99]

sapphire vs gorilla glass2

http://youtu.be/KlhRV-BDIIw

 

[Konrad9]

The article is pointing out that sapphire is costly and it's hard to get quality in the supply chain. Apple has the money and the desire to fix those two issues, so this could be an advantage for them. Nobody has attempted to do with sapphire what Apple is attempting, or on this level.

Nobody has attempted to use it in their products? Really?

 

[kerrikins]

Nobody has attempted to use it in their products? Really?

When I say that nobody has attempted what Apple is attempting, what I am referring to is creating their own supply chain, pumping $587 million into GTAT and generally approaching the use of sapphire on a level and scale that hasn't been seen elsewhere. Multiple articles have commented on this. I really wasn't saying 'Apple is the first ever to use sapphire'.