Michal Ždanský GT Advanced Technologies, one of the leading manufacturers of sapphire glass in America, announced in its quarterly financial report that it has negotiated a contract with Apple worth 578 million dollars. Part of the agreement is the Cupertino company's investment in a new factory where the material will be produced.
In return, Apple will receive a supply of sapphire glass for several years starting in 2015. The new factory will produce sapphire glass at high capacity thanks to advanced next-generation sapphire furnaces that can produce high-quality sapphire glass at a significantly lower cost. At the same time, sapphire glass was characterized by high production costs.
ASF (Advanced Sapphire Furnace) is based on proven 40-year sapphire production and crystal growth process technology. It combines a highly automated, low-risk operating environment capable of producing consistent, homogenous sapphire cuts resulting in high-quality, low-cost material.
Apple already uses this material, specifically for the camera lens and recently also for Touch ID, where a layer of sapphire glass protects the fingerprint reader built into the Home button. However, thanks to new technology, sapphire could also appear on displays. The iPhone currently uses Gorilla Glass, characterized by its resistance to breakage and scratches, yet sapphire glass lasts 2,5 times longer and is almost impossible to scratch. In addition, thinner displays can be made from the material, which would reduce the thickness and weight of iPhones and other devices.
Sapphire would also make sense for the smartwatch Apple is apparently working on. Watches are often exposed to external influences and their display can be easily scratched, so sapphire glass would provide the necessary protection for the display part. After all, this material can also be found in "stupid" luxury watches. However, according to the latest speculation, the watch is due to be introduced as early as next year, while Apple is not expected to receive the first shipment of processed sapphire glass until a year later.
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"The iPhone currently uses Gorilla Glass, which is characterized by its resistance to breakage and scratches"
Good propaganda. Gorilla Glass is not shatterproof at all. And against scratching? Well, needless to say. It is certainly more durable, the question is whether it is enough for normal operation. As it turns out… Not enough.
I agree, but as you can see, there is probably nothing better for the money. Hopefully it will be... :-).
Durable does not mean unbreakable :) In 5 years of using iPhones, I only broke once. And I think it is durable enough. Try dropping normal glass and Gorilla Glass, eh? I don't know what you think normal traffic is, but it's certainly not throwing your phone on the ground.
You probably don't understand Czech a bit. If something is "resistant", in this case against breaking, then it is unbreakable. Otherwise it's not durable, you understand? Otherwise, of course, it is not durable. There are a lot of broken iPhones everywhere.
you have to be a little more careful with things, slap it up and down with guys and money somewhere in your pocket, all the while whining that it's scratched is ignorance. a bit of basic physics is needed - common sense in life and not puffed-up bullshit like: if it costs 15000 it can't be broken or scratched. I am personally looking forward to the day when there will be no need to use any foil and packaging...
Well, I don't know, I'm from Moravia, so I probably don't know Czech xD but if something is, for example, water resistant, it's not waterproof, and it's the same with broken
Durable = in this case scratch resistant, which in technological terms = very hard, which in physical terms = brittle/inflexible and breaks when bent…
You either have something that's flexible and takes shit (and gets scratched) or something that's hard and solid but shatters when you try to bend it (and maybe even fall to the ground).
In theory, it is the same as hardening steel, if it is of high quality and sharp, it will break when bent and not bend.
HM feel free to argue what is the difference between durable / unbreakable.... However, I think it is a clear fact that there is no phone on the market other than the iP 4/4S/5/5S series where there is a higher percentage of broken glass…. APPLE is probably the only one with 100% statistics, but you just have to look around or ask and there are very few people who either haven't seen it happen or haven't seen it... It's just that APPLE also graduates something else here and does something else - before it was balanced by exceptionality, today, in my opinion, it's a fact nothing…
I have to say that I have had all the iPhone models since 3G and I have never broken the display or dropped my phone x number of times. I have never seen a cracked display even among friends using iPhones. What I saw was 3 broken HTC Windows 8 phone displays in one day. I couldn't believe it, it only took a little to crack the display of this phone. After a fall of about 30 cm (it fell out of the pocket of a kneeling person), the display is like a cobweb.