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

[NarcNarwal]

Do your research

This article should be updated. IDB has just posted a video of a Chinese channel doing many tests on the leaked sapphire panels. They took a hammer and nail to the panel and nothing happened. They also used footage of a channel called MKBHD who also got his hands on a panel. He bended the panel to an almost 90 degree angle without it breaking. The most important thing to remember is if apple ever brings new tech to the table, they would make very sure that it would not harm the structural integrity of the device in every day use. If it was as brittle as everyone says it is, apple would not implement it. Apple is this far in the game because they take their time and do their research.

 

[freediverx]

Fiber != sheet. Completely different things.

Sheet, fiber, doesn't matter.

If a material is thin enough it will bend. If the material is weak it will break on bending. If it's strong it will resist bending without breakage.

 

[zipa]

Apple Reveals Sapphire Flexible Transparent Display Devices Created with Liquid-Metal

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...display-devices-created-with-liquidmetal.html

LOL, that's a load of bull right there. No, they did not patent "flexible sapphire" (because there is no such thing), they patented a "hollowed out" sapphire sheet with a flexible display panel that wraps around the inside of it.

Look, sapphire does not bend, nor will it be made less prone to shattering. It is a physical property of the material. What they might try to do is to use a super thin layer and laminate that onto something else, such as gorilla glass to try to get the best of both worlds. Still, calling that laminate "sapphire" is another load of bull.

 

[freediverx]

LOL, that's a load of bull right there. No, they did not patent "flexible sapphire" (because there is no such thing), they patented a "hollowed out" sapphire sheet with a flexible display panel that wraps around the inside of it.

Look, sapphire does not bend, nor will it be made less prone to shattering. It is a physical property of the material. What they might try to do is to use a super thin layer and laminate that onto something else, such as gorilla glass to try to get the best of both worlds. Still, calling that laminate "sapphire" is another load of bull.

I'm saving a link to this page so we can enjoy a good laugh at your expense later.

 

[Pete1945]

Transparent aluminum

Has it occurred to anyone that sapphire is crystalline aluminum oxide? Does Montgomery Scott have a small interest in GT Advanced?
Whoops, didn't notice the photo on a previous post. Apparently I'm not the only StarTrek geek here.

 

[zipa]

So what do you make of Apple's flexible sapphire patent?

There is no such thing.

 

[Toltepeceno]

Not as much. It's also not as scratch resistant.

Watch this bend test of gorilla glass 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4j4wqA2Mko

The items he used are not as tough on the scale as gorilla glass, it's quartz as in sand that scratches it....so yes it's as scratch resistant as the tests he did as he did not use sand or sandpaper.

 

[bdkennedy1]

Serious question. When has there ever been an issue with scratched screens? Cracked screens? Tons of issues. There's a cottage industry surrounding replacing them. Scratched?

Class action lawsuit against the 2006 iPod Nano.

 

[freediverx]

There is no such thing.

Can glass be flexible?

 

[Toltepeceno]

There is no such thing.

You are claiming the patent does not exist? I think you are full of it:

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-receives-a-patent-for-flexible-sapphire-displays_id50548

 

[Robert.Walter]

This article should be updated. IDB has just posted a video of a Chinese channel doing many tests on the leaked sapphire panels. They took a hammer and nail to the panel and nothing happened. They also used footage of a channel called MKBHD who also got his hands on a panel. He bended the panel to an almost 90 degree angle without it breaking. The most important thing to remember is if apple ever brings new tech to the table, they would make very sure that it would not harm the structural integrity of the device in every day use. If it was as brittle as everyone says it is, apple would not implement it. Apple is this far in the game because they take their time and do their research.

I agree. I also think Apple wouldn't invest (was it hundreds of?) millions to produce a component that would make their produce LESS attractive!

 

[zipa]

This article should be updated. IDB has just posted a video of a Chinese channel doing many tests on the leaked sapphire panels. They took a hammer and nail to the panel and nothing happened.

We did those same tests four years ago at Nokia. With Gorilla Glass. No scratches, no breakage. Do your homework, a nail wouldn't scratch GG to begin with. Most nails wouldn't even scratch a plain old sheet of window pane glass.

Sheet, fiber, doesn't matter.

It matters immensely. Sapphire fibers are single crystal fibers.

I'm saving a link to this page so we can enjoy a good laugh at your expense later.

Great. I'm quite sure that for one reason or another you'll lose the link when it turns out that the crow is yours to eat.

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Can glass be flexible?

Define "glass".

 

[Tumbleweed666]

I dont believe that Apple would spend half a BILLION dollars just to make some screens for a watch / health / fitness device when existing sapphire would be fine. Got to be something bigger than that going on.

 

[apolloa]

This story is BS, from what I have seen in videos, IF they are actual real front screens from the iPhone 6, then the glass Apple has made is VERY bendy and flexible, and very scratch resistant.

If all the rumours turn out to be true then I would imagine everyone else will use Sapphire in a couple of years and Corning will be on low end devices or tablets, cause I guess sapphire glass is expensive to make when you're talking millions of units.

But meh, iPads have been very resistant to scratches and my iPhone 4 had the most scratch resistant glass bar none, considering what I put it through and how long I had it. i was incredibly impressed with it, it was a billion times better than the iPhone 5 I had!

 

[Robert.Walter]

You are claiming the patent does not exist? I think you are full of it:

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-receives-a-patent-for-flexible-sapphire-displays_id50548

Imagine using this for a watch.

You could punch out an oval cylinder with the diameter of slightly less than the size of the average male (other size for average female) wrist, then punch out the centre of the material to leave a thin oval cylindrical shell; then slot it.

If it was flexible enough, the slot could be opened to allow fitting over the wrist.

After that, it is just a small detail to fit the display, battery, sensors and electronics to the slotted sapphire shell and you have an iWatch! ;O)

 

[osaga]

Serious question. When has there ever been an issue with scratched screens? Cracked screens? Tons of issues. There's a cottage industry surrounding replacing them. Scratched?

Fine scratches contribute greatly to the likelihood of the screen cracking when dropped. If you've ever cut glass, you'd know that scoring it makes it snap very easily. I'm sure this will be brought up at the product unavailing. I have faith that if Apple is doing it there's a damn good reason.

Because they use technologies that are more expensive for marketing, sales and "image" rather than what is actually best for the consumer and the device?

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.

The great thing about Apple is that they do the exact opposite of what you just described. Examples: Lower MP cameras that produce better pictures. Lower GHz processors that are faster and use less power. Non-replaceable batteries, no memory cards, proprietary connectors, walled software ecosystem, cases machined from solid aluminum, displays which may be lower resolution but more accurately reproduce color etc. All in the name of quality, ease, and efficiency. No other company would (or could) do that.

 

[freediverx]

Watch this bend test of gorilla glass 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4j4wqA2Mko

The items he used are not as tough on the scale as gorilla glass, it's quartz as in sand that scratches it....so yes it's as scratch resistant as the tests he did as he did not use sand or sandpaper.

Watch this video. They rub the same block of concrete on both the special sapphire and Gorilla Glass and only one comes out unscathed.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?annota...rBhyaluJbFH&src_vid=vsCER0uwiWI&v=AJ1WWRKKelY

 

[Toltepeceno]

I want to clarify the points I am making in the thread.

1. Gorilla glass is as scratch resistant and flexible as the tests the guy did in the video. See the GG2 video I linked to in earlier posts.

2. Apple took out a patent on flexible sapphire.

Beyond that I have no idea what the display is in the video.

 

[zipa]

You are claiming the patent does not exist? I think you are full of it:

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-receives-a-patent-for-flexible-sapphire-displays_id50548

No, that patent does exist. (Probably, I can't be bothered to look it up. I'll just assume that the article is correct.)

It is not a patent for "flexible sapphire" or "bendable sapphire screens", though. It's a patent for a very rigid and inflexible hollow sapphire cylinder that is lined with a flexible LCD display sheet.

 

[freediverx]

I dont believe that Apple would spend half a BILLION dollars just to make some screens for a watch / health / fitness device when existing sapphire would be fine. Got to be something bigger than that going on.

Apple may be planning to eventually replace not just glass but also aluminum with sapphire across their product line.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14...amless-all-glass-ios-devices-monitors-and-tvs

 

[zipa]

I dont believe that Apple would spend half a BILLION dollars just to make some screens for a watch / health / fitness device when existing sapphire would be fine. Got to be something bigger than that going on.

Existing sapphire would not be fine. Or the material would, but the manufacturing costs would not. There is a reason that you only see sapphire on watches costing several thousands of dollars, not on fitness bands that sell for a hundred or two hundred bucks.

I want to clarify the points I am making in the thread.

1. Gorilla glass is as scratch resistant and flexible as the tests the guy did in the video. See the GG2 video I linked to in earlier posts.

2. Apple took out a patent on flexible sapphire.

1 = correct.
2 = incorrect.

 

[cgc]

Nonsense. Even the clearest screen protector is a lot more opaque than nothing, which is what you will need with these displays. Put them side by side and only a blind man would be fooled.

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LOL. The Apple of today is far bigger and more successful than anything that happened under Jobs.

I gotta call BS on both counts. Obviously, the screen would be marginally more clear without the screen protector but the screen protectors of today are VERY clear. Apple was successful because of Steve Jobs...they are going off of the inertia he started along with some good things Tim Cook implemented but you are insane to say Steve Jobs couldn't have done what Tim Cook has done. Ludicrous.

 

[GeneralChang]

We did those same tests four years ago at Nokia. With Gorilla Glass. No scratches, no breakage. Do your homework, a nail wouldn't scratch GG to begin with. Most nails wouldn't even scratch a plain old sheet of window pane glass.

I see people take knives and keys to these panes and can’t help but think that the metal in most of those is probably softer than the glass, rendering the test pointless. And they’re also quite dull in comparison to a chipped mineral.

I think the telling comparison is the Gorilla Glass 3 vs Sapphire demo they were doing at a trade show using a chunk of concrete from the parking lot. Scratched the glass pretty easily, did nothing to the sapphire. So if you’ve got sand in your pocket, one is clearly better. And for my personal use case, that’s probably the most useful feature a phone screen can have.

 

[69Mustang]

Would it matter if it weren't sapphire yet had all those amazing properties?

Apologies. I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. My quote was directly related to several people using that video as proof of the amazing properties of sapphire. There's no proof that panel is sapphire so to use it as proof of sapphires properties is not the greatest idea.

I personally think it's just a simple Gorilla Glass panel.

To answer your question, no it wouldn't matter if it wasn't sapphire.

 

[NoNothing]

Because they use technologies that are more expensive for marketing, sales and "image" rather than what is actually best for the consumer and the device?

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.

This sounds like Qualcomm claiming the ArmV8 (64 BIT) is worthless. What in the world makes you think Apple does not take a path that is best for a consumer product?