The appearance of the new glass from Corning on the market will dramatically affect the popularity of similar solutions from sapphire.
Several years ago Apple took an interesting step by starting to promote the idea of using sapphire glass in iPhone. The fact is that sapphire is really impossible to scratch, it is one of the most durable materials after diamond. Apple entered into a contract with GT Advanced, which was able to prove that it has the necessary thermal units to produce ultra-thin non-scratch glass that can be used in iPhone.
But about 9 months before GT Advanced was supposed to 'give birth' with a new product, the supplier had serious problems with the production of sapphire glasses and the agreement was terminated. Fortunately for Apple, at that time the glass supplier for iPhone was Corning, a company that was not standing still, improving its glasses and making them stronger and more resistant to scratches.
Although the new version of Gorilla Glass cannot boast of a strength comparable to that of sapphire glass, it has become thinner compared to previous versions and uses more durable materials. In the end, Apple finally abandoned the sapphire glass project and switched to Gorilla Glass, as did many other vendors who use these glasses in their mid-range and high-end smartphones.
Sapphire is a very tough and scratch-resistant material, however, it has one significant flaw that calls into question its use in smartphones: it is much more fragile compared to Gorilla Glass or soda-lime glass, which contains special components to give strength . What's worse, with the tiniest flaw in a sapphire crystal, it becomes even more fragile when it comes to dropping or accidentally hitting a hard object or surface.
Corning announced Gorilla Glass 5, the thinnest and most durable glass the company has produced to date, at a separate event in Palo Alto two weeks ago. During the development of glass, Corning carefully examined one key feature that played an important role in glass design. The Gorilla Glass project was created to protect devices from falls from the height of the average consumer's waist. But during research, the company realized that many people lift their smartphone much higher by taking photos with the main or front camera. With this in mind, the fifth generation glass was created, which can withstand a drop from a height of 1.6 m. During the presentation, a smartphone with Gorilla Glass 5 was shown, which had previously been dropped about twenty times and dropped again on stage, the glass did not break. Also, tests were carried out, during which the glass experienced collisions with various objects, which did not affect it in any way.
Gorilla Glass 5 is already shipping to device makers and is coming to multiple devices soon. Corning's approach to creating the thinnest, most durable glass deserves respect. I believe that the fifth generation of Gorilla Glass does not leave any hope of popularity for sapphire crystals, nullifying the need for them. However, Corning is working hard to make its products even more durable and resistant to mechanical damage. In a conversation with company representatives, they confirmed that they undoubtedly plan to include a truly scratch-resistant surface in one of their upcoming products, similar to sapphire, Gorilla Glass is not ideal in this. Corning's projects include Phire, announced this year.
Phire will obviously be the next version of Gorilla Glass with additional features that will give the glass its strength and make it virtually forever. No dates have been announced, but the announcement of such a glass will finally 'bury' sapphire glasses for smartphones, they will no longer be needed in the future.
Original article by Tim Bazharin
In my material, the author, in my opinion, too categorically 'destroyed' sapphire glass as a class. Why not cover the back of the device with it? Or, say, screens for smart watches? Of course, there is no point in denying the superiority of Corning technologies, but they are not without flaws either. On the other hand, for a year and a half with the Note 4, the glass fulfills 100%, no complaints.
To be honest, I would like to see more significant conclusions than 'Gorilla Glass is super, sapphire is in flight', especially from a person with such experience. Still, the Phire project is quite good in terms of the strength of the glass covering the display, until a solution has been found that can provide the owner with one hundred percent confidence that his smartphone screen will be able to maintain its integrity for a long time. Do you think Gorilla Glass will be able to match the strength of sapphire glass, or are all these Corning novelties just marketing and nothing more?