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

[gnasher729]

Breaking news: Manufacturers of less expensive phones want their products to remain less expensive.

best advantage of sapphire glass is scratch resistance.

Apple should continue to manufacture high quality phones with superior materials.

Importantly, Apple made a _major_ financial investment into Sapphire Crystal glass production. That's sunk money. From now on, Apple's price for Sapphire Crystal glass will be an awful lot lower than anyone else's. Everyone except absolute low end would love to use Sapphire Crystal if they could get it at the same price as Apple does.

 

[avanpelt]

Well, of course Corning is going to publicize a single test that supposedly shows that their glass product is superior to sapphire. I want to see an independent series of tests comparing the strength of Gorilla Glass to sapphire. I'd also like to see that key and knife scratch test with Gorilla Glass. The sapphire video showing the scratching (or lack thereof) was amazing.

I think this is similar to the Qualcomm SVP saying in September 2013, "I know there's a lot of noise because Apple did [64-bit] on their A7. I think they are doing a marketing gimmick. There's zero benefit a consumer gets from that." Then, a few weeks later they announced that they were getting into the 64-bit mobile processor business.

 

[AngerDanger]

Meanwhile, my salamander display panels remain out of the media's spotlight…

 

[TWSS37]

I have no dog in this fight but I'd have a hard time blindly believing the results Corning has with GG vs Sapphire, as they have a vested interest in the results.

But you're believing the rumors of an unsubstantiated youtube video?

 

[OllyW]

It would seen sapphire is better for an iWatch. It's strapped to your wrist where you get lots of wear, but you're not really going to drop it often. It would be easy to form the watch size pieces right out of the oven making them very durable.

Whatever Apple is going to do, it will be huge, bigger than anybody else has in the works.

It has been used in watches for over 30 years so that's no big deal.

The clever bit is making it cheap enough and strong enough to use in the iPhone.

 

[1Zach1]

But you're believing the rumors of an unsubstantiated youtube video?

I never said I was? I was simply stating that a grain of salt should be taken when looking at a rivals testing results.

 

[ctdonath]

such a move would normally inspire competitors to produce their own devices with sapphire displays.

Apple had to drop a huge pile of cash to hugely advance the scale of sapphire production, not something other competitors are capable nor inclined to do. When faced with a competitor able to do something significantly better that you just can't do, standard response is to deny any relevance/need in doing it - especially if most customers will view the non-advanced technology as "good enough". Heck yeah Apple's competitors would like to put sapphire on their devices, but since they can't Gorilla Glass will continue to suffice.

This is one of those "little things" that keeps superior, taking something near-impossible for the rest of the market and making it happen at commodity prices. Oh, the power of a big pile of cash...

 

[ogremoustro]

and then you have the video from the other day where he bends the crap out of the sapphire panel and nothing bad happens... so Apple has indeed fixed the issues with sapphire displays..

Yep, here he's seen bending it a lot.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R0_FJ4r73s

 

[solamar]

Yeah... that didn't make much sense. They call it "brittle" and yet, in the comparison, it's only a 20% difference in durability. 161 pounds of bendy-ness doesn't seem particularly "brittle" to me. The comparison was also done on a hypothetical screen in which they have no clue how it will be manufactured/implemented. We don't even know if the next iPhone will even have sapphire displays.

Just sounds like sour grapes to me, which... from previous observation... does nothing to Apple.

It's a trick in Marketing.. You see, that was a raw piece of Sapphire in that Gorilla Glass test and guess what.. If you took a raw piece of glass, you'd get even worse results than Sapphire..

Gorilla Glass is good because it's laminated and coated through it's manufacturing process in a way to prevent breaking. and it can be mass produced.

The issue with Sapphire is that there were no manufacturing processes to get it thin enough or to mass produce enough of it to run Sapphire through similar strengthening processes Gorilla does for normal glass.

Guess what we've seen for the past year on Patently Apple? A crap ton of patents related to MFG and processing of Sapphire.. ALL FROM APPLE

So yea.. I believe the demo to be Sapphire.. done right..

Also; the comment in the article about Sapphire not being as clear? umm.. Sapphire is noted as being one of the purest substances on earth when it comes to allowing pure color and well known for it's near 0 opacity. Which is WHY they use it for the finger print scanner and camera lens cover! duh..

 

[lewisd25]

Samsung today: "Meh, sapphire is too expensive and isn't practical."

Samsung next year: "Here it is! The Galaxy S6 with "ultra" sapphire!! Ours is better!"

 

[wiz329]

Unless GT AT and Apple have some secret manufacturing technique they're not sharing with anyone else in the world, the concerns that people are raising against sapphire screen for the iphone aren't unjust.

... that's kind of the point of the article. They DO have a manufacturing method that makes it much cheaper for Apple than anyone else...

 

[LordVic]

... that's kind of the point of the article. They DO have a manufacturing method that makes it much cheaper for Apple than anyone else...

Alleged.

I'm just one of those people who until I see it, and see the empirical testing of it. I'll be skeptical.

thats all. not picking on any company or person here

I just want to see the damn tech already if they have it

 

[rdlink]

It would seen sapphire is better for an iWatch. It's strapped to your wrist where you get lots of wear, but you're not really going to drop it often. It would be easy to form the watch size pieces right out of the oven making them very durable.

Whatever Apple is going to do, it will be huge, bigger than anybody else has in the works.

I do think this makes more sense for a watch. I have a Movado with a sapphire crystal. I've had it for 5 years. Dropped it a few times, and accidentally hit things with it while swinging my arm a bunch of times. It hasn't cracked. It also looks as pristine as it did the day I got it from a scratch standpoint.

 

[Cayden]

There is no way Apple would let these rumors keep going on without the saphire display being a likely option. They drop rumors on purpose to hype up the iPhone 6. A "rumor" would tell about how Apple said they'd never use the saphire display if it wasn't an actually feasible thing for them

 

[Starflyer]

Apple had to drop a huge pile of cash to hugely advance the scale of sapphire production, not something other competitors are capable nor inclined to do. When faced with a competitor able to do something significantly better that you just can't do, standard response is to deny any relevance/need in doing it - especially if most customers will view the non-advanced technology as "good enough". Heck yeah Apple's competitors would like to put sapphire on their devices, but since they can't Gorilla Glass will continue to suffice.

This is one of those "little things" that keeps superior, taking something near-impossible for the rest of the market and making it happen at commodity prices. Oh, the power of a big pile of cash...

Didn't Apple do the same thing a few years back with flash memory production?

 

[FrozenDarkness]

this is one of the coolest things apple has done in recent time. and from the marques brownlee youtube video, it looks like it's strong so I don't know what they're talking about.

 

[SockRolid]

Sapphire is an appealing option due to its extreme hardness and its scratch resistance.

Fine. I've never had any issues with scratching on any of my past and current iPhones. No screen protector ever. Sapphire would be nice on my next iPhone (the rumored 4.7" iPhone '6'.) Whatever.

What I really want is a scratchproof and abrasion-resistant metal backshell. Tired of anodized aluminum. Yes, it is light and relatively durable and easily recyclable. But the sharp edges focus abrasion on a very narrow area, which wears through the anodized coating and eventually exposes bare aluminum along those edges.

My theory about the chamfering is that it provides extra grip when you're holding an iPad one-handed. The thumb gets extra friction along the bezel because of the two relatively sharp edges presented by the chamfering. The chamfering was introduced along with the narrower bezel on the iPad Air (and on the first iPad mini with its narrow bezel.)

So chamfering is all good on iPads. They aren't jammed into jeans pockets dozens of times a day and they don't get jostled around with other items in purses. But it's easy to one-hand iPhones without relying on extra friction along the edges. So chamfering on iPhone is, to me anyway, purely cosmetic. And, unfortunately, it exposes tiny ridges to high friction.

I'm hoping the leaked (intentionally by Apple?) photos of the curved-edge "6" backshells are real. Because even if they're the same old anodized aluminum, they seem to have few if any sharp edges that will cause the anodization to wear through quickly. And I really don't want to use any kind of case at all on my "6."

 

[PocketSand11]

Just my 2 pennies: But I am far more likely to drop the phone, than put 161lbs on it.

I think (for me at least) it comes down to which performs better for accidental drops and scratch resistance. Which is a bit of catch 22, as the Gorilla Glass is better for drops, and sapphire is better for scratches :/

Dropping it could mean putting 161lbs on it, depending on how quickly the phone stops.

----------

What I really want is a scratchproof and abrasion-resistant metal backshell. Tired of anodized aluminum. Yes, it is light and relatively durable and easily recyclable. But the sharp edges focus abrasion on a very narrow area, which wears through the anodized coating and eventually exposes bare aluminum along those edges.

Yes!! Sapphire-backed iPhone 6, anyone? I'm annoyed with the back of my iPhone 5 getting so scratched.

 

[redkamel]

In regards to Sapphire vs Gorilla glass, I can only speak from experience....

-Sapphire glass watch since 1997-2008 and another from 2008-14, worn every day, taken everywhere, banged on doors and desks occasionaly, dropped a few times...no scratches at all.

-Iphones since 2007: usually small scratches within 6 months. 3 screen breaks. Dropped about as many times as my watches.

So I am excited to see how a sapphire display works out.

 

[bdkennedy1]

Sapphire is brittle until it's mixed with -- (drumroll) -- Liquid Metal.

 

[akm3]

Is this like all the android manufacturers being lukewarm on 64bit while they scrambled to catchup with the A7?

 

[rmatthewware]

This is the difference between Apple and others (like LG). Instead of just pulling standard, off-the-shelf parts and slapping them together, they actually go out and build and modify technology. They did it with their modification of ARM processors, they're doing it with sapphire. In fact, if I remember right, Corning had shelved Gorilla Glass until Steve Jobs called because his plastic-screened iPhone prototype kept getting scratched by his keys. Apple has taken control of its supply chain in a way many other phone makers haven't.

 

[stynkfysh]

I gotta say, Saphire Glass sounds awesome. Corning likes to show off the strength of their glass by punching it with something. That's not where the danger to my phone is. I can't recall any instance where I punctured my screen.

 

[69Mustang]

Based on the leaked videos of iPhone 6 screens, this whole article is quite out of date. It looks like Apple is doing a super thin (thin enough to be flexible) layer of sapphire on top of a sheet of flexible glass. Based on the videos they’ve solved the brittle issue and the clear issue, and have a scratch proof, impact resistant surface. We don’t yet know about price. And apparently running over the sheet with a car is bad but hitting it with a hammer is OK, which implies something to do with total pressure and surface tension.

Big caveat. Those videos might not be showing a sapphire panel. Nothing definitive has been offered to say it's really sapphire.

 

[fruitpunch.ben]

drops that cause cracks and shattering are where the improvements needs to come. my iPhone 4s has taken quite a beating but the display has never scratched. replaced the front glass twice from drops though.

See I have exactly the opposite problem.
I have dropped my phone plenty, never had a single cracked screen, but the screen scratched almost immediately after buying it and it continues to scratch.
Granted I'm not careful enough with it, occasionally i'll put it in a pocket with keys, or my wife will stick it straight in her purse with who knows what else in there, but the fact is it scratches very easily. I would love something that's more hardy.
The only thing I'm worried about is scratches in the oleophobic coating are just as bad as in the actual glass, so sapphire covered with that won't actually help the situation at all.