Sapphire vs. Gorilla Glass

[pRICE cUBE]

The repair technicians conducted three different tests -- a scratch resistance comparison using a tungsten carbide drill bit, a drop test with the sapphire display of the newly released Kyocera Brigadier, and a a four-point bend test to compare the failure stress and strain of sapphire glass with that of Gorilla Glass.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/29/sapp...lla-glass/

[sekker]

"The technicians conclude that sapphire does not necessarily offer any advantage over Gorilla Glass, as the material's superior scratch resistance and strength is offset by its low impact resistance. Phone manufacturers that include a sapphire display may choose to employ other protective measures such as a raised bezel to help protect the phone during impact with other surfaces. "

In the one site purportedly using a genuine Apple production Sapphire screen, this issue was not noted.

[Black]

pRICE cUBE wrote:
The repair technicians conducted three different tests -- a scratch resistance comparison using a tungsten carbide drill bit, a drop test with the sapphire display of the newly released Kyocera Brigadier, and a a four-point bend test to compare the failure stress and strain of sapphire glass with that of Gorilla Glass.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/29/sapp...lla-glass/

Almost all of the comments invoke "Magic Apple" that surely has some (made up) way of giving the Sapphire magical shatter resistance powers.
Nobody keys in on the relationship between scratch resistance and shattering.
This gal lays it our very well in this (worth watching) video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FJUD5WB_ko

[eustacetilley]

A couple of the linked comments are interesting- they point out that Synthetic Sapphire has many other interesting properties that Apple are exploring; break and scratch resistance are only two.
For instance, much of the microcircuitry could be incorporated in the Sapphire Screen itself. Not the Screen cover- the Screen. This is due to its very high electrical resistance, coupled with its very good thermal conductivity, and then complimented by its optical transparency.

(Diamond is even more interesting. Monoisotopic diamond is still in the WTF stage: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/AV_K...ion_detail)

Eustace

[BernDog]

I saw that this morning too. Not sure if the girl in Black's video gets to this point (might be worth watching, but I don't want to spend a half hour on it...I'm assuming she discusses how scratch resistance=crack resistance), but it seems like most recent reports on Apple using sapphire have forgotten about this gem from last year: http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-ap...glass.html

If they can pull it off and it actually works as described, "magic Apple" might be just about right.

[Chakravartin]

Two things that I've seen raised in discussions of sapphire screens and Apple products...

1. Rather than making a sapphire screen, Apple may be making a sapphire coating for the screen. The properties of such a film/coating would be different from that of a large sheet of synthetic sapphire.

2. Since the fragility of the screen increases as the size scales up, the first sapphire screens from Apple may be on the iWatch and not the iPhone.

[BernDog]

Another obvious point regarding "will they or won't they" that many reports seem to not focus on, is that all the leaked pics and videos seem to show glass that has tapered thickness towards the edges. Everything I've read says this isn't possible with GG, so, unless all these leaks show parts that don't end up making it into finished products, the new iPhones will have sapphire glass.

Of course, all the leaks could be wrong, but there's been so much info this time around that seems highly unlikely. And, if Apple ends up not using sapphire at this point, there's going to be one hell of a firestorm over it.

[Ken Sp.]

I have read that Apple has patented some sort of tempering for Saphire. This flexing to fail is inconsiderate of the fact that the screen would be attached to something solid like the phone.

[Black]

Chakravartin wrote:
Two things that I've seen raised in discussions of sapphire screens and Apple products...

1. Rather than making a sapphire screen, Apple may be making a sapphire coating for the screen. The properties of such a film/coating would be different from that of a large sheet of synthetic sapphire.

2. Since the fragility of the screen increases as the size scales up, the first sapphire screens from Apple may be on the iWatch and not the iPhone.

Makes very good sense on both counts.

[Black]

Ken Sp. wrote:
This flexing to fail is inconsiderate of the fact that the screen would be attached to something solid like the phone.

Not sure how you could argue that after having watched the videos linked in the OP.