“As Apple was readying its plans for the launch of the first-generation iPhone, Jobs realized that a phone would spend most of its time jiggling around its users’ pockets alongside keys and change, all of which would, in short order, turn a plastic screen into an unreadable mess of dents and scratches,” Marco Tabini writes for Macworld.
“At Corning, Jobs found—and eventually convinced CEO Wendell Weeks to mass produce—a material that the company had dubbed “Gorilla glass.” As clear as plate glass, Gorilla sported a higher Mohs value and much better strength, making it perfect for Apple’s upcoming family of smartphones,” Tabini writes. “Still, if you own an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, chances are that cracks and scratches are still very much on your mind—which, perhaps, explains the healthy number of cases and screen protectors that are widely available from third-party manufacturers. If you’re like me, you may have even taken to carrying your phone in a dedicated pocket, cramming your change and house keys in the other just so that the two don’t accidentally come into contact.”
Tabini writes, “It’s likely that this fact hasn’t escaped Apple’s design team, either, which may have led the company to look beyond glass and into the manufacture of a different medium for its screens: sapphire.”
Much more in the full article here.
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Large iPhone 6 screen looks like sapphire, says expert who spoke to Apple – July 11, 2014
In new video, purported ‘iPhone 6′ sapphire display undergoes extreme torture test – July 8, 2014
Uh, yeah, no kidding.
The scratches is important, but not critical issue, it can not be “next big thing”. Bigger versions of iPhone will be next big thing, even literally. 🙂
They could wrap an iPhone in diamond and I’d find a way to scratch it.
Lucky you are. Not everyone can carry around diamonds.
Oh, must be that ring you’re saving for that special purpose. Got it.
And GTAT drops…wonder what GTAT will do on iPhone 6 announcement day?? I will sit and wait
Sapphire is a great thing, but seriously not the Next Big Thing.
How can scratches be more important than curved glass?
But seriously, Apples Next Big thing needs not to be services or software or glass – it needs to be Meaningful and Revolutionary… something people never expected to come. SO not a TV, not a bigger iPhone, not a Watch… something no one was talking about.
I agree, my iPhone is ALWAYS in a pocket by itself.