I find a lot of people think that until you take off your screen protector and compare the two items side by side.
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Sapphire's Durability Put to the Test Head-to-Head Against Gorilla Glass
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I find a lot of people think that until you take off your screen protector and compare the two items side by side.
I don't know about other watches, but in the case of the Rolex Submariner, the sapphire crystal sits ABOVE the bezel, by what appears to be about a good quarter millimeter or so.
Who cares about impact tests? Just hold onto your phone and don't drop it. People act like it's rocket science. JUST HOLD ONTO IT!!
Be careful. Karma has a way of evening things out.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Submariner is their diving watch. That piece of Sapphire is THICK. If Apple uses Sapphire as THICK as Submariner on the iPhone, it will be more resistant to shattering than generally assumed per typical "thinner"/"thinnest" objectives. However, it would look a bit funky as that thickness also magnifies the Submariner face a bit to help make it more visible underwater.
Look at the rest of Rolex's line. Submariner is an exception. Most of their line seats the Sapphire below the metal rim.
My watch, which I have had to nearly 5 years, has a sapphire crystal. It's been banged around quite a bit, and has not ever shattered. It also has no scratches visible with the naked eye.
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Who cares about impact tests? Just hold onto your phone and don't drop it. People act like it's rocket science. JUST HOLD ONTO IT!!
Surely you are kidding. I HOLD ONTO my phone. But the first week I got my iPhone 5 I was walking up stairs, holding it in my hand. Caught the toe of my boot on a step and went down. The iPhone flew out of my hand and skated down the sidewalk. If you carry a phone in real life you are going to drop it at some point.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Big difference between a watch dial at maybe 1" to maybe 2" and a big rectangle at 4.7" and 5.5".
Watch Sapphire is also typically thicker to somewhat magnify the watch face. Apple is in love with "thinner" but even if they were not, it probably wouldn't work well to magnify a LCD screen by making the Sapphire watch-like thick.
Sapphire is more scratch resistant. THAT is the big benefit. If iPhone uses Sapphire, the transparent rectangle will be even more scratch resistant than GG has been. However, as these tests imply, it is more brittle. "Bang this around quite a bit" and you'll likely be replacing a shattered screen or cutting your fingers by trying to keep using it anyway.
If you go back and look at the message I was replying to, the OP was asking about whether it was a good idea to put sapphire on the "iWatch" if it was going to be used in activities.
I don't know (or really care) whether Apple is going to use sapphire in the new iPhone, unless it has some fantastic quality that makes my phone more magical than it is now. My current phone screen is fine, as far as I care.
But I was just answering the question about the OP's concern whether sapphire made sense on a watch.
And most humans are clumsy fools, they either lie or don't know about themselves. If that fact kills about 50 people a day in just the US, far far more just drop stuff.
Oooh! It's harder, but more brittle... surprise surprise! No ****** Sherlock. Go and learn some basic science. Yawn.
I just can't comprehend how people are so clumsy. Hanging onto a phone is ridiculously easy.
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YOU might, not me or most other people. Even falling down, it isn't hard to hold onto something.
Much rather have shatter resistance vs scratch resistance. I have had iPhones for 7 years and have rarely scratched the glass. Its hard to scratch. Been through multiple screens though.
Yes, maybe it will have other ways to be used, BUT still yes, Apple WILL use it for the screen, but the important thing with these tests ant critics about Apple using sapphire for the screen are missing one little thing: the screen WILL NOT BE MADE JUST FROM SAPPHIRE.
There's been already some rumors about the screen being a composition of different layers, the last one made od sapphire to handle the scratches, but also reinforced with bent resistant materials, so it can handle to be bent much more, not just like the gorilla glass, but even more; there is already a video testing one of the last pieces leaked, the one that looks like a real iPhone 6 screen that is very resistant to bending.
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Actually there is already a video right here at Macrumors, and even anote about the composition of the screen, and looks like most of the people, specially those that because of their interests tell Apple is not doing good going for sapphire, BUT the point is that yes, Apple is going to use sapphire at the screen of devices sock as the iPhone and the iWatch, BUT it is not gonna be the only material the screens are gonna be made of, the screens will be a composite of layers that will provide that bending resistance that sapphire can't provide, and sapphire will give the scratch resistance capacity.
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Actually there is already a video right here at Macrumors, and even a note about the composition of the screen, and looks like most of the people, specially those that because of their interests (competition) are telling Apple is not doing good going for sapphire, BUT the point is that yes, Apple is going to use sapphire at the screen of devices such as the iPhone and the iWatch, BUT it is not gonna be the only material the screens are gonna be made of, the screens will be a composite of layers that will provide that bending resistance that sapphire can't provide, and sapphire will give the scratch resistance capacity and the extra strength.
The use of sapphire on a phone surprises me because of the brittleness. Diamond is also brittle and easily smashed. The bend test does not seem relevant because the glass is supported from below and only has a few millimetres of travel possible. The scratch test doesn't seem such a big deal because gorilla glass resists normal things that scratch just as well. I mean no one is going to keep an iPhone in their pocket with a carborundum tipped drill bit.
The brittleness is a function of the size of the surface and also how much vibration can be wicked away to other components. In the case of a watch face, the area is very small compared to an iPhone, plus the glass can be very much thicker. Also the watch face to bezel ration is very high compared to an iPhone.
To me sapphire glass for a large phone seems to only have purpose as a marketing gimmick and I don't see Apple doing that. Maybe it will be available as an optional upgrade. So you can have it if you imagine you need it.
I've had every single iPhone. Not one has any cosmetic damage, much less deep scratches. Nor has one ever cracked or broken.
Yet amongst my friends I've seen some dropped and broken. But it's important to note that the metal body gets scratched and dented in a fall so even if the display glass didn't break, you still have ugly damage.
The reason Apple is changing material is their desire for bragging rights and fat profits. It's typical Apple maneuvers.
Yet amongst my friends I've seen some dropped and broken. But it's important to note that the metal body gets scratched and dented in a fall so even if the display glass didn't break, you still have ugly damage.
The reason Apple is changing material is their desire for bragging rights and fat profits. It's typical Apple maneuvers.
We are trying to draw some conclusion for a specially treated glass against whatever cheapo sapphire Kyocera tossed into their phone. Really strange video and even weirder to post it here. I considered reporting the article for trolling.
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Oh brother.
Or, Apple sees how much profit is being made by third parties selling generic replacement screens and realizes that selling parts only available from Apple can be a lucrative way to grow profit per unit sold. Personally, I suspect Sapphire is much more about this than anything else but will be happy to be proven wrong if Apple's "tempering", "chemically" and "lasers" have yielded some kind of previously unknown breakthrough that brings more impact resistance (than GG).
I have not covered an iPhone screen in 6 years and never had one scratch, so I am not all that excited about a more scratch resistant screen. However, even if you are an expert in the treatment of gems and materials it would not mean much if you had not heard of treatment to make saphire less brittle. It is more than a bit arrogant to assume just because you don't know something, it doesn't exist.
You don't know that Apple is going to even use sapphire in a phone, but you seem completely willing to assume they are going to based on what some guy on the Internet said. You are even willing to go so far and divine a motivation for them to do so.
They're the third biggest Android handsets manufacturer in Japan, behind Sharp and Sony.
Agreed. These premature tests are . premature. The Testers don't even have an official release copy of the iPhone 6 which (supposedly) has the final sapphire material.
The tests could be more meaningful if the testers actually had an actual official release product (iPhone 6) and then compared its screen's structural integrity compared to (say) an iPhone 5S. But that's not going to happen for at least a few more weeks.
iPhone 6 might (likely) be announced on Sept 9, but the final product shipments might not be delivered until a few weeks after.
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How do these people know what kind of hybrid laminates Apple have used (IF they have used sapphire).
Everyone thinks they've "got the answer", and everyone's guessing.
Give up, just WAIT.
PS: I think the screen will be transparent rubber
Personally the final iPhone 6 screen material will be the same as in latex condoms. But Apple cannot promise that it protects you from STD.
Very true. One is more likely to scratch the screen through it's daily use than drop it. We buy cases to ensure good grip and drop protection for our phones, but they always get scratched in purses, pockets, etc.
Makes me wonder, too. Apple's engineers surely compared all the characteristics of sapphire to Gorilla Glass before Apple partnered with GT Advanced Technologies, and there's a lot we don't know yet about their plans. Personally, I'd favor shatter resistance over scratch resistance over resistance to bending.
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Consider yourself lucky. No matter how defensively you drive, there's nothing you can do about the driver who rear ends you because they're not paying attention. That's also true with cell phones. Even if you're careful, someone can bump into you and cause you to drop it. That's almost happened to me a few times. Back when I used belt clips, I had my iPhones detach and fall occasionally, which is why I stopped carrying them that way. It's easy to label anyone with a cracked screen as careless, but it's not always so.