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bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
Oh, thanks I am not the only one. There is a reason why Apple made the iPad. iPhone is meant to be portable, small and best device for running basic apps, this is why it has a small display. iPad is meant to be larger and best device for media (Movies, videos, browsing internet etc.) So a Phablet (4.7'' or 5.5'' it doesn't matter) is too big for portability, ease to use but too small for running media. So, a phablet is a both bad phone and bad tablet. But we won't see phones going smaller, companies now using it as a marketing gimmick :(

4.7 inch isnt much bigger if done right (my nexus 4 is small enough) but apple has that stupid home button to fit so it might end up bigger than some 5.0 devices which is indeed a bit silly. 3.5 is way too small though. thinking back i cant believe that ever seemed "big". using my old 4S every once in a while feels like a tamagochi, such an odd "egg-like" screen size.
 

Piggie

macrumors G3
Feb 23, 2010
9,130
4,036
Steve Jobs believed as I do that making the best product you can will bring you money beyond your wildest dreams, not subscribing to capitalist orthodoxy.

But this is not true.
They do not make the best product they can.

Define "Best"

They make the product THEY want to.

If it was "The Best" Then people around the world would not be spending the same, or more money on other brands, why would they?

The easiest and most simple example is........

Do Apple fit "The Best" Home Desktop Computer Graphics Cards in their "Best" Home Desktop Computers?

No. We know they don't, and they never have done.
 

woodynorman

macrumors 6502a
Nov 26, 2011
672
311
Oh, thanks I am not the only one. There is a reason why Apple made the iPad. iPhone is meant to be portable, small and best device for running basic apps, this is why it has a small display. iPad is meant to be larger and best device for media (Movies, videos, browsing internet etc.) So a Phablet (4.7'' or 5.5'' it doesn't matter) is too big for portability, ease to use but too small for running media. So, a phablet is a both bad phone and bad tablet. But we won't see phones going smaller, companies now using it as a marketing gimmick :(

I have an iPhone5S and an iPad Air. Yesterday I found myself at the hospital for most of the day with my Mother in Law who took a fall. I did not have my iPad with me. I spent the day surfing the internet on my iPhone. That sucked!

I only wish I had a bigger screened phone for times like that.
 

daveathall

macrumors 68020
Aug 6, 2010
2,379
1,410
North Yorkshire
I ask this question because I don't know the answer. Would people be able to tell a difference between a phone that had a crystal screen and one that had a screen made from the latest Gorilla glass? If so, what would that difference be?
 

Casiotone

macrumors 6502a
Oct 12, 2008
825
111
4.7 inch isnt much bigger if done right (my nexus 4 is small enough) but apple has that stupid home button to fit so it might end up bigger than some 5.0 devices which is indeed a bit silly. 3.5 is way too small though. thinking back i cant believe that ever seemed "big". using my old 4S every once in a while feels like a tamagochi, such an odd "egg-like" screen size.

The Nexus 4 is 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm.

The rumored iPhone 6 dimensions (on which all the mock-ups are based) are 138 x 67 x 6 mm.

So your Nexus 4 would actually be larger (by a hair) at 68.7mm vs. the iPhone 6 at 67mm if the rumors are true, and noticeably thicker.

As for the length, the iPhone 6 would be a whopping 4.1mm (less than 1/4 inch) longer than the Nexus to accommodate that "stupid home button".
 

DrMotownMac

Contributor
Jul 11, 2008
385
213
Michigan
A quick aside...

When I read this post about sapphire glass furnaces and such, it occurred to me that this company (Apple, I mean) has only been in business for 38 years. 38 years ago, these two guys...
steve-jobs-steve-wozniak-blue-box.jpg

...started a small company in their garage for less than $2,000. WTF?!?!? Now they're being critiqued for not putting sapphire glass in EVERY phone and not just their high end phones? Does anyone ever think about the context of all of this, how two guys with absolutely no business education could create the most valuable publicly traded company on earth?

I think we should maybe just sit back and enjoy the flow of great products and the improved way of life we all share because of them. They definitely succeeded in putting that "ding in the universe." Whether or not the iPhone 6 has sapphire glass, or whether the 5.5 inch is better than the 4.7 inch, I'm pretty certain most of us will love what's coming next, and the coolness of the technology is always what keeps us spending money!
 

tomasdi

macrumors newbie
Mar 7, 2014
13
4
A few days ago the iWatch was said to have OLED flexible display. But now it is Sapphire for the watch? Unless there is some kind of flexible sapphire i think nobody knows where the iWatch rumors are going.
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,601
1,737
Redondo Beach, California
What they don't know yet is how thick the sapphire covers will be. How can they possible estimate the number of iPhone screens they could make per year, even knowing the mass of raw material used.

My guess is these covers will be ultra-thin. That is the only way to make sapphire flexible. It's going to by as thin as the kind of paper used of printing photos. Then they laminate the thin sapphire to "normal" glass. This will make the iPhone both scratch resistant AND tough.

A think Sappire window would be prone to shatter if dropped but a thin sapphire layer would bend with the underlaying glass.

YES thy WILL use glass. The LCD panel itself will still be made of glass, Apple is just going to bond (glue) a thin slice of sapphire over the LCD panels.

OK that is what I think will actually happen. What I'd LIKE to see is a full sapphire case of the iWatch. Make it a sapphire unibody. Same for the phone. Then thy really would have something unique.
 

MyopicPaideia

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2011
2,155
980
Sweden
But...

The plant is waiting for its final prepayment from Apple in order to finish construction and secure equipment, which is expected to be received by the end of this month.

Is this really enough time to get the sapphire into mass production for the phones?? Seems like they couldn't really get up and running with mass production until earliest halfway through August if the above quoted timeline is correct info. In other words they haven't yet finished construction or secured the planned equipment yet, and can't even start with that process until additional capital is received from Apple, which isn't happening until the end of June...

Just seems an extremely tight window to make in order to have finished screens for the iPhone release, especially if they will in fact be releasing in September. If we go into the middle of October again, however, it might be more feasible.

Just my shot from the hip!
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
So sapphire is really really hard, second only to diamond. Which is great. :) How tough is it? Will is still fracture and shatter if it's dropped on a corner, or hit by something with a sharp point?

Yes. The advantage for Sapphire is that it will a bit more scratch resistant than glass. It probably also sounds sexier and more valuable for Apple's marketing spin.

The disadvantages is that it doesn't bring anything in terms of better shatter resistance and that it costs more than glass. If you're in the camp of worrying about what other people think, it will visibly look exactly the same as glass so those around you will never go "wow! You have sapphire glass!" because they won't be able to tell unless you tell them (and even then, there's no visible difference).
 

Navdakilla

macrumors 65816
Feb 3, 2011
1,100
13
Canada
My eyes have deteriorated massively since owning my iPhone 5, which I use greatly (and charge twice a day). I've also got used to my 8" tablet and even 5" phones look small now. I'm definitely in the market for a 5.5 - 5.7" screen mobile phone. Bring it on!

Same with me. I haves. Nexus 5 which I got after having a iPhone 5. I love the bigger screen and will definitely upgrade to a 5.5 weather it's apple of samsung.
 

GregAndonian

macrumors 6502
Jul 31, 2010
344
0
Do Apple fit "The Best" Home Desktop Computer Graphics Cards in their "Best" Home Desktop Computers?

No. We know they don't, and they never have done.

Well, I don't know- those Fire GL cards in the pony keg actually sound pretty bitchin'... :D
 

Four oF NINE

macrumors 68000
Sep 28, 2011
1,931
896
Hell's Kitchen
I ask this question because I don't know the answer. Would people be able to tell a difference between a phone that had a crystal screen and one that had a screen made from the latest Gorilla glass? If so, what would that difference be?

The one with the sapphire crystal wouldn't scratch
 

Piggie

macrumors G3
Feb 23, 2010
9,130
4,036
Well, I don't know- those Fire GL cards in the pony keg actually sound pretty bitchin'... :D

Actually they are not.

I believe they are cut down / out of date compared to the ones you can buy and plug into a PC.

Plus they are nowhere near as fast as a modern graphics card for the type of uses most households want from a general purpose machine.
 

iKrivetko

macrumors 6502a
May 28, 2010
652
551
When I read this post about sapphire glass furnaces and such, it occurred to me that this company (Apple, I mean) has only been in business for 38 years. 38 years ago, these two guys...
Image
...started a small company in their garage for less than $2,000. WTF?!?!? Now they're being critiqued for not putting sapphire glass in EVERY phone and not just their high end phones? Does anyone ever think about the context of all of this, how two guys with absolutely no business education could create the most valuable publicly traded company on earth?

I think we should maybe just sit back and enjoy the flow of great products and the improved way of life we all share because of them. They definitely succeeded in putting that "ding in the universe." Whether or not the iPhone 6 has sapphire glass, or whether the 5.5 inch is better than the 4.7 inch, I'm pretty certain most of us will love what's coming next, and the coolness of the technology is always what keeps us spending money!

If there is anything Apple was never meant to be about, that is sitting back and enjoying the flow.
 

Cyborg21

macrumors 6502
Sep 2, 2013
332
0
4.7 inch isnt much bigger if done right (my nexus 4 is small enough) but apple has that stupid home button to fit so it might end up bigger than some 5.0 devices which is indeed a bit silly. 3.5 is way too small though. thinking back i cant believe that ever seemed "big". using my old 4S every once in a while feels like a tamagochi, such an odd "egg-like" screen size.

I still can't understand why all companies making phones bigger. 4.7'' seems big right? They (almost all companies) will make it even bigger to get more money, then your 4.7'' phone will feel like a tamagochi (It's what they want you to think) and you will want to replace it. After you got bigger one, they will make bigger and it will feel small. Big displays are simply just marketing gimmick right now. All companies (I hope Apple won't do that) focused on marketing gimmicks such as bigger displays, ''powerful'' chips (which is made for checking Facebook :roll eyes:) instead of innovating. And people will believe that they are innovating because there is no one to show them the truth. Physical keyboards were important, netbooks made sense just a couple years ago and Apple did show people why were they stupid ideas. Steve Jobs were right “people don't know what they want until you show it to them.” I know it seems a little bit cliche but If Steve Jobs were here he would show why bigger isn't always better. Now he is dead and Apple started giving the things people want. So, I hope Apple does not give us a bigger iPhone, I hope they will give us something new, revolutionary instead. (They did that a lot of times, for example people wanted a Netbook from Apple, but Apple made the iPad)
 

69Mustang

macrumors 604
Jan 7, 2014
7,895
15,044
In between a rock and a hard place
What they don't know yet is how thick the sapphire covers will be. How can they possible estimate the number of iPhone screens they could make per year, even knowing the mass of raw material used.

My guess is these covers will be ultra-thin. That is the only way to make sapphire flexible. It's going to by as thin as the kind of paper used of printing photos. Then they laminate the thin sapphire to "normal" glass. This will make the iPhone both scratch resistant AND tough.

A think Sappire window would be prone to shatter if dropped but a thin sapphire layer would bend with the underlaying glass.

YES thy WILL use glass. The LCD panel itself will still be made of glass, Apple is just going to bond (glue) a thin slice of sapphire over the LCD panels.

OK that is what I think will actually happen. What I'd LIKE to see is a full sapphire case of the iWatch. Make it a sapphire unibody. Same for the phone. Then thy really would have something unique.

Unibody sapphire phone would be the most repaired tech item in history (hyperbole, but not much). It would make Applecare sales go through the roof though. Sapphire is more scratch resistant, not shatter resistant.

----------

The one with the sapphire crystal wouldn't scratch

Maybe it's just me, but I rarely hear people complain about scratches. I do hear them gripe constantly about cracks though.
 

eXan

macrumors 601
Jan 10, 2005
4,732
89
Russia
My 2-1/2 YO iPhone 4S made out of glass has no scratches at all.

I guess Apple found a new gimmick to make future iPhones even more expensive

Agree, I have been using my 4s naked and despite there being a few scratches on the back, the screen is yet to see any damage. I even dropped it twice.
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
The one with the sapphire crystal wouldn't scratch

Not true. The one with the sapphire screen will be a bit more scratch resistant. It can be scratched (see all those with sapphire watch fronts that have scratches).

Even if this was diamond, it wouldn't achieve "wouldn't scratch"- just a bit more scratch resistant than Sapphire.

As 69Mustang posted, I too rarely hear people griping about existing (Gorilla) glass scratching. The gripes are almost always about shattering, for which Sapphire (or even Diamond) will shatter just about the same. As such, I dread the pain of replacing a shattered Sapphire screen relative to the pain of shattered glass. The process will likely be about the same but the parts cost will probably be a point of aggravation for anyone needing to deal with that problem.

I suspect that Sapphire here is either about marketing spin and/or that quest for ever "thinner". If the latter, maybe Apple is able to shave this transparent pane just a little thinner than existing Gorilla glass to match about the same level of (shatter resistance) integrity? We all know how important "thinner" is to Apple.

In another thread on this topic, someone(s) made a few posts about a new approach to screens that would allow a Sapphire front to let a bit more light through than could be accomplished with glass, though the source of that information didn't explicitly say that. As I read it, it looked like a leap that clear Sapphire could allow more light to pass through than clear glass but maybe there was something to that too. But even if that's true, is a brighter display an obvious need/want? Or is it another variation of "when is thin, thin enough?" as in "which is bright, bright enough?"

My gut feel is that this is probably more about marketing spin and "thin" than anything else. But that's just gut guess. Maybe there's something "magical" in this particular transparent rectangle that can't be matched by a cheaper (Gorilla) glass rectangle?
 
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