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iPhone 13 Pro Max With the Ceramic screen, do we still need a screen protector?

S

scott_donald

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2016
160
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With the new ceramic screen, do we still need an extra screen protector?

I am not sure, currently thinking case certainly but not sure on the screen protection.
 
the Ceramic Shield display is really good at not cracking. If that’s your concern you are probably good without a screen protector. (Knock on wood)

however, it still scratches as normal in my experience, which is my concern. So I still use a screen protector.
 
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I went without a screen protector or case on my iphone 12 mini without a problem. Dropped it multiple times on to hard surfaces from waist/chest height and it was always surprising how well it held up. Going to go naked with the 13 pro as well and add a case if I have to get the screen fixed.
 
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I had one phone that I didn't run a screen protector on and it wound up with a lot of fine scratches. Now I always run the Spigen Glas.TR.
 
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douglasf13 said:
I'm not sure I've ever scratched a screen, and I've had an iPhone about every other year since the 3G. I just make sure nothing else is in the pocket I keep my phone in.
Click to expand...
That’s key right there. No keys in phone pocket! Or anything else that can scratch.
 
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One thing that’s worth noting is that scratch resistant and crack resistant are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Making glass harder so that it resists scratches also makes it more brittle and more likely to crack. Making glass less brittle so it can flex a little without cracking also makes it softer and more likely to scratch.

As they work to make the screens stronger and less likely to crack it fights against the screen’s ability to resist scratches.
 
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I've run my phones with no screen protector for a while now, at least since the IP7 or so. Never had a single scratch on any of them, but they do get swirls which I suspect are mainly in the oleophobic coating.
 
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I'm generally pretty careful with my phone and keep it in my front pocket with nothing else in there other than chap stick.

I had an iPhone X and didn't use a screen protector. By the time I upgraded to the 12 Pro, there were some minimal scratches on the screen, but nothing major and nothing that was very noticeable except in the right light.

I've had the 12 Pro for almost a year, and there might be one, very, very tiny scratch on it, but again, nothing readily noticeable and you have to have it in pretty direct light to even be able to see it.

I think the glass on the 12 and 13 is noticeably better at resisting scratches than prior generations. Though this is of course a focus group of one.

I've got the 13 Pro coming next Friday and I don't plan to utilize a screen protector.
 
BrettDS said:
One thing that’s worth noting is that scratch resistant and crack resistant are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Making glass harder so that it resists scratches also makes it more brittle and more likely to crack. Making glass less brittle so it can flex a little without cracking also makes it softer and more likely to scratch.

As they work to make the screens stronger and less likely to crack it fights against the screen’s ability to resist scratches.
Click to expand...
This is what is upsetting to me about Ceramic Shield. I want a screen that is more durable against scratching, not cracking. I can, and would replace a cracked screen. But I'm not going to spend $29 to replace a scratched screen. It's just not worth it.

So if I can be protected from one type of damage, I want it to be scratches because I can always get a replacement for a crack.
 
Didn’t put one one my 8+ and it’s been scratch free for 4 years. I always hated how they slightly downgrade the display quality especially since they scratch much more easily.
 
I always run with the Spigen Glas.tR protectors. Best coating in the game. Lasts forever. The cheapie Amazon protectors have crap coatings that wear off in a week and the screen gets greasy quick.
 
xpxp2002 said:
This is what is upsetting to me about Ceramic Shield. I want a screen that is more durable against scratching, not cracking. I can, and would replace a cracked screen. But I'm not going to spend $29 to replace a scratched screen. It's just not worth it.

So if I can be protected from one type of damage, I want it to be scratches because I can always get a replacement for a crack.
Click to expand...

Physics says the only way to increase scratch protection is to use a different material. Glass is made of silica which will always have the same Mohs hardness, ans that is what determines how much is scratches. It's too bad the sapphire screens didn't work out, as those would have been extremely scratch resistant.

A screen protector, especially a glass one, also helps to save the screen from cracking if you drop it. The energy that would go into the screen instead goes into the protector, which might crack/break, which means it dissipated the energy (by cracking) instead of that energy going into the phone. It's not going to help with really big falls, but it does help for the smaller ones.
 
Glass screen protectors are dirt cheap on Amazon and usually come in multi-packs. Why wouldn't you spend $10 to protect your $1200 phone?
 
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I like my iphone naked! I haven’t used a screen protector since the iPhone 4.

My 12PM is kinda dinged up, but I don’t care because it’s going back in 2 weeks!😂😂
 
The screen pe se doesn't scratch.The Oleophobic coating does. So yes I would definitely get a screen protector
 
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