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The Shattered Gorilla Glass Thread-Please Post Yours Here Too!
- Thread starter atomicbatteries
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"All the breakthrough technology in iPhone 4 is situated between two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever. Its also recyclable."
Where does it say 30x stronger? the properties mentioned refer to it resisting wear and tear, not hard impacts.
It may or may not, Apple has not said as far as I know. The GG was a supposition from iFixIt.com I think in their early analysis of the iPhone 4.
So why does it break from a fall of 2 feet but I can take a crow bar to a windshield and have a difficult time breaking it?
So why does it break from a fall of 2 feet but I can take a crow bar to a windshield and have a difficult time breaking it?
Windshield is a lot thicker and if you were to hit the sides of the glass it would break... Fail.
Doesn't matter - you don't use the term if it's incorrect and in this case - it is. Unless Apple states in fact that they use Gorilla Glass, people need to stop using it.
So why does it break from a fall of 2 feet but I can take a crow bar to a windshield and have a difficult time breaking it?
Is that a real question?
A windshield is convex. That shape adds extra strength than a standard piece of flat glass. It's also thick. The windshield is also bound on all four sides by super strong adhesive. When a windshield is in place on a vehicle, it literally adds structural rigidity to it. It also withstands the impact of the airbags and will not blow out.
You can damage a windshield with anything strong enough. It might take a couple of blows unless you hit it on the sweet spot. Either way, it will break - it's just designed to be tougher and more rigid.
The iPhone 4 on the other hand is a flat piece of glass. It's thin as hell and is not permanently bound on any side. It's free floating. Its held in place by a metal band and that "snaps" into the phone. It's not super rigid but it does the job. Depending on how the phone lands after falling, the impact may or may not damage it.
Glass is glass. Don't expect it not to break. You dropped it face down onto concrete, what did you honestly expect? For it to bounce back up into your hands? Lol
So far there are only two posts in this thread with pictures of broken IPhone 4's in them, and even the OP didn't specify whether it was his own iPhone or a story he copied from the net in his original post (and his follow-up post).
Windshield glass is approximately ¼" thick (6.35mm) whereas the entire iPhone 4 is 0.37" thick (9.3mm) including both the front and back glass panels (in addition to the other characteristics described by AbSoluTc).
Obviously the display has to be some sort of glass, but did they have to make the whole thing out of glass that easily shatters on the first drop on concrete or marble, I think not.
In fact I don't see the point given the number of broken screens and while minuscule right now, and all the holier than nows are wagging their fingers of caution at those who have had this misfortune fall on them, there will no doubt be many many more!
I would place a wager today that the next incarnation of this phone no longer goes the all glass route.
I agree, the overall look will probably stay the same next year but different materials. Screen obviously not changing. (maybe a little bigger..
)
naive much? I'm actually a pc guy, the only apple product I've ever liked is my iphone, was just being realistic..
Guys an automotive windshield is made of laminated safety glass: a sandwich of 2 glasses with a bond layer. The iPhone 4 glass is ?
Both type of glasses have different functions and follow different safety standards. Besides the obvious dimensional differences many are always confusing without any facts allegedly design flaws with manufacturing variation and non conforming products.
Tempered automotive glasses can be qualified aftr they are broken, by doing a forensic type of analysis finding the largest remaining particle and analyzing it's weight, shape and size. There are many other significant features and if apple performs the right investigation with their suppliers the quality issues vs design issues will be properly addressed.
Both type of glasses have different functions and follow different safety standards. Besides the obvious dimensional differences many are always confusing without any facts allegedly design flaws with manufacturing variation and non conforming products.
Tempered automotive glasses can be qualified aftr they are broken, by doing a forensic type of analysis finding the largest remaining particle and analyzing it's weight, shape and size. There are many other significant features and if apple performs the right investigation with their suppliers the quality issues vs design issues will be properly addressed.
I drove my Honda off the 2nd floor of a parking garage... proportionately similar to the distance, size, mass, etc. of the iPhone 4 falling off a counter. Anyway, the car was totalled.
This is a design defect and Honda owes me a new car. The car wasn't even 75% glass. I mean, it had metal, rubber, plastic... things that shouldn't break when driven off the 2nd story of a parking garage.
No one's saying the device should be indestructible when dropped. But it shouldn't be that FRAGILE either. It's a phone. Not a trophy that sits on a mantle for 15 years with the occasional touch/glance. It's a PHONE. It goes...well, most everywhere the owner does.
It should have some sense of durability without babying, as the original iPhone and 3G/S did/have.
There are reports of people dropping this thing just a few feet, NOT EVEN WAIST HIGH, WITH bumpers, and the screens are shattering.
When you consider that it's a telephone, that's a design flaw. No one's blaming the glass, but it's a bad design. It just is. There's hardly anything even there to protect the glass when it is dropped, at least the 3GS had the chrome bezel, this has almost NOTHING. Remove that almost invisible piece of rubber/plastic whatever it is and the glass is almost protruding. Bad design. Antenna? Bad design.
The phone is visually pleasing, but it's a failure in design.
It should have some sense of durability without babying, as the original iPhone and 3G/S did/have.
There are reports of people dropping this thing just a few feet, NOT EVEN WAIST HIGH, WITH bumpers, and the screens are shattering.
When you consider that it's a telephone, that's a design flaw. No one's blaming the glass, but it's a bad design. It just is. There's hardly anything even there to protect the glass when it is dropped, at least the 3GS had the chrome bezel, this has almost NOTHING. Remove that almost invisible piece of rubber/plastic whatever it is and the glass is almost protruding. Bad design. Antenna? Bad design.
The phone is visually pleasing, but it's a failure in design.
It's not a design flaw. Lol.
Nobody knows the exact conditions of which the phones are breaking from the stories told by the owners. Not every single detail. Some are so vague that it's not even worth reading. Hell, there was a thread about someone stating the gyroscope was causing phones to fall off a flat surface. WTF?
Everyone here knew BEFORE THEY PURCHASED that the phone has a glass front and a glass rear. Everyone here knows that glass breaks. If you knew this, why did you buy the phone? Apple didn't like or make a faulty product in that respect.
Glass breaks. Period. Not even Apple can stop that. If you want a phone that won't break when dropped, DO NOT BUY A GLASS PHONE! Buy a plastic/rubberized phone. Drop it to your hearts content. Throw it even. However, even they will eventually break.
Bumpers don't mean anything. They are like door stops for your house. Even though they will stop the door from hitting the wall, it doesn't mean the door still can't slam into the wall with enough force. It's a stop gap. Nothing more. It's not 100% protection.
Again, you knew this going in so please - stop complaining about it. You also know that glass breaks. Sometimes it breaks at 1 foot, sometimes it breaks at 10 feet. It's all in how it hits. Don't be surprised.
If your monitor falls off the table, Apple should be bitched at because it was made of glass and not a durable as you thought it should be?
I swear, some of you don't think. Some of you also will never be pleased. Ever.
After taking a closer look on my precious without the bumper, the following is my personal opinion about the design: yes the design allows the glass to be protruded over the surrounding black rim, so the manufacturing process variation can allow for the glass to be exposed on its weakest area, and with the movement generated during the impact of any fall it can be more exposed and therefore hit to generate the shattering. A design improvement would be to change the material and thickness of the rim, so the weak area of the glass is protected by design.
If you disagree I don't give a sh$t. It is going to be very interesting to see how apple handles this one. It took them the full producrion of the 3G and 3GS to continue swapping cracked plastic iPhones, to change the design to a plastic less one and now they are dealing with a supposed "lower failure rate" and the opportunity to make more money by selling the bumpers. In the previous design even you didn't drop the iPhone it experienced the cracks. The glass will not break due to you sitting on it (yo mama is so fat...)
Also they can increase the thickness of the metal antennas so they cover over the glass thickness and te glasses are inside it surrounded by improved rims.
If you disagree I don't give a sh$t. It is going to be very interesting to see how apple handles this one. It took them the full producrion of the 3G and 3GS to continue swapping cracked plastic iPhones, to change the design to a plastic less one and now they are dealing with a supposed "lower failure rate" and the opportunity to make more money by selling the bumpers. In the previous design even you didn't drop the iPhone it experienced the cracks. The glass will not break due to you sitting on it (yo mama is so fat...)
Also they can increase the thickness of the metal antennas so they cover over the glass thickness and te glasses are inside it surrounded by improved rims.
i have shattered my iphone 4 back and it broke into 2 pieces. the front is perfect thought. the battery ripped out. i know it 100% my fault but will apple replace it for me? is there a way i can pay $200 or $400 to get a new iphone 4 instead of paying $600? i have heard apple replacing the broken iphone 4 to some customers. i wonder if any of you guys have that experience?
I think the TiBook left a bad taste in engineers mouths, with the paint chipping and whatnot. But I would buy the phone you just described.
Umm, the glass doesn't protrude over anything. The glass is surrounded by a thin black, metal trim and sits approx, 1/8" from the edge of the phone. From what I have also seen in the tear downs, the glass is also glued to the black metal frame on the underside. It sits on a lip which glues the glass to the frame and the frame attaches to the phone body.
So, not sure how anything isn't really protected or protruding. There is no exposed glass edges anywhere on the phone.
Ok, sooo. Are we allowed to post pics of the back? I never dropped it, and it's been in a case. Idk how the corner cracked, but it just did. Maybe I set it down too hard on my desk? Getting angry won't help me, I didn't even notice the crack until I took the case off. I'm not gonna throw a huge fit unless it randomly cracks again. It's not going to help me recoup anything. As my mother used to tell me, suck it up. Sorry about the first picture, not sure why it turned out so blurry.
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For what it's worth, I dropped my i4 twice in one day. Once It landed on a concrete driveway and once it landed in my car floor. Got a small nick in the bottom bezel...not a mark on the glass front or back.
Based on this extensive testing- I must conclude this is the strongest phone ever made. Ever.
(I am getting a bumper to protect the edges however)
Based on this extensive testing- I must conclude this is the strongest phone ever made. Ever.
(I am getting a bumper to protect the edges however)