Daniel Hruska Before the launch of the new iPhones, there was quite a lot of speculation about the use of sapphire glass as protection for LCD displays. Many unconfirmed reports took this fact for granted. After all, why not, when Apple in cooperation with GT Advanced Technology they invested over half a billion US dollars just for the production of sapphire glasses. Time's Tim Bajarin was able to piece together the individual pieces of information regarding sapphire and came to interesting and at the same time logical conclusions as to why sapphire is currently unsuitable for large displays.
Right before the reveal iPhone 6 a iPhone 6 Plus there were rumors circulating on the internet that they would not get sapphire glass due to manufacturing issues. These reports were true and false at the same time. The new iPhones did not get sapphire, but not for manufacturing reasons. Sapphire should not have been used as a display cover at all. Instead, toughened glass produced by chemical hardening using ion exchange was used. You certainly don't need to be alarmed, because this is the good old stuff Gorilla Glass.
While the properties of sapphire glass have been praised almost to the skies in recent months, tempered glass has secured its position in the smartphone field during that time. This is not because it is completely perfect, but because it currently meets consumer electronics needs as well as customer demands. In other words – how much money are people willing to pay for a phone and how will they use it afterwards. Today, it is definitely tempered glass that is more convenient for use in mobile phones.
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Design
The trends of today's smartphones are reducing their thickness, reducing weight and increasing the area (display) at the same time. That's not exactly easy. Increasing the size while reducing the thickness and removing a gram of weight requires the use of thin and light materials. What we generally know about sapphire is the fact that it is 30% more dense than tempered glass. The phone would have to be heavier or contain a thinner and therefore less durable glass. However, both solutions are a compromise.
Gorilla Glass can be made to the thickness of a sheet of paper and then chemically hardened. The flexibility and adaptability of such a material is absolutely critical to the phone's design. Apple, Samsung and other manufacturers offer displays with rounded glass on the edges of the device. And because tempered glass allows it to be molded into any shape, it is simply an ideal material. In contrast, sapphire glass needs to be cut from a block into the desired shape, which is complex and slow for large phone displays. By the way, if the demand for new iPhones using sapphire was to be uncovered, production would have had to start six months ago.
Price
The price tag plays a big role in consumer electronics, especially in the mid-range, where manufacturers literally fight for every dollar. In the higher class, the prices are already freer, however, even here you need to save on each component, not in terms of quality, but in terms of the production process. It is now about ten times more expensive to make the same glass from sapphire than the same glass from tempered glass. Surely none of us would want a more expensive iPhone just because it contains sapphire.
Battery life
One of the ailments of all mobile devices is their short battery life per charge. One of the biggest consumers of energy is, of course, the backlight of the display. Therefore, if the backlight must be turned on by its very nature, it is necessary to ensure that the largest possible percentage of emitted light passes through all layers of the display. However, sapphire transmits it less than tempered glass, so for the same brightness, more energy would have to be used, which would have a negative effect on battery life.
There are other elements related to light, such as reflection. The glass can have an anti-reflective component in it as a material, which helps absorb direct sunlight better in outdoor spaces. In order to achieve an anti-reflective effect on the sapphire glass, an appropriate layer must be applied to the surface, which, however, wears off over time due to taking it out of your pocket and rubbing it in your purse. This is of course a problem if the device is to last more than two years in good condition.
Environment
Manufacturers know that consumers listen to "green". People are increasingly interested in the environmental impact of the products they buy. The production of sapphire glass requires a hundred times more energy than the production of tempered glass, which is a significant disparity. According to Bajarin's findings, no one yet knows how to make production more efficient.
Endurance
This is the most highlighted feature, unfortunately completely misinterpreted. Sapphire is incredibly hard, which makes it hard to scratch. Only diamond is harder. For this reason, we can find it in luxury goods such as luxury watches (or recently announced Watch). Here it belongs to the very proven materials, but this is not the case with the large cover glasses of phone displays. Yes, sapphire is extremely hard, but at the same time inflexible and very fragile.
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It follows that when it comes to carrying in a purse with keys or accidentally running over a hard surface, sapphire clearly has the upper hand. However, there is a risk of it breaking when it falls, which is caused by its low flexibility and great fragility. When it hits the ground, the material simply cannot absorb the energy generated during the fall, it bends to the limit and bursts. On the contrary, tempered glass is very flexible and in most cases can withstand the impact without the so-called cobwebs. In general summary – phones are often dropped and need to withstand impact. The watch, on the other hand, does not fall, but we often knock it against a wall or a door frame.
According to experts in the field, sapphire should be viewed as a layer of ice, which, like sapphire, is classified as a mineral. They constantly create small cracks that constantly weaken the surface. It will hold together until there is a bigger impact and everything bursts. These small cracks and fissures form during daily use, as we constantly put the phone down, sometimes accidentally knock it on the table, etc. After that, just one "normal" fall is enough and the sapphire glass can crack more easily.
On the contrary, current solutions, such as the already mentioned Gorilla Glass, can, thanks to their arrangement of molecules, strengthen the area around the crack and thus protect the entire surface from cracking. Yes, scratches on tempered glass can form more easily and will be more visible, but the risk of breakage is far less.
Over the next few years, we will certainly see advances in the production of sapphire glass that could enable its use in mobile phone displays. However, according to Bajarin, it won't be anytime soon. Even if it is possible to find a surface treatment that would allow this, it will still be a rigid and fragile material. We'll see. At least now it is clear why Apple invested in the production of sapphire and why this move did not apply to iPhones.
"...we should look at sapphire as a layer of ice, which, like sapphire, is classified as a mineral." I'm not exactly an erudite chemist, but I don't think that water is a mineral. Speaking of using sapphire crystal for short-lived products, it doesn't make much sense.
I couldn't do it, I looked up the information and ice is really counted among the minerals.
Well, firstly.. sapphire would make an already overpriced phone even more expensive than it is.. and secondly, who doesn't treat the phone like a pig.. doesn't need sapphire.
in Slovak zafir, I suggest repeating elementary school
So that even the Czech brothers can understand me.. that's why sapphire.. Mr. teacher :D
don't worry, they will understand ;-)
After all, it is in the article - the subtitle "Price".