“Most smartphones are covered with Gorilla Glass, a glass made by Corning that’s been specifically engineered to protect against drops and other damage. But devices with that glass are still prone to scratches if you place them in the same pocket as your keys and coins. Even if you don’t, it doesn’t take long for a phone to collect all kinds of scratches just from daily use,” Shannon Liao reports for The Verge. “And if complaints about the iPhone X, Pixel 2, and other flagships from the last year are any sign, the situation has been getting worse, with modern phones scratching from the slightest mishandling.”
“So are we imagining it, or are newer versions of Gorilla Glass less scratch-proof than ever?” Liao reports. “While it’s hard to say definitively whether they’re getting worse, even Corning’s own numbers show they aren’t getting any better.”
“The reason why has to do with both market demand and glass’ natural qualities,” Liao reports. “Since glass can’t truly be both extremely drop resistant and scratch resistant, Corning and other glass makers are forced to choose which of those two qualities to prioritize. For Corning, drop resistance takes precedence.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s glass. It’s going scratch and it’s going to break if mishandled.
From Day One, June 29, 2007, all of our iPhones have gone into our pockets with the rear of the device facing outward, glass toward the body, with the bottom facing up (keeps the post from getting pocket lint stuck in it).
If you’re rough with your iPhone, by all means spring for a glass protector and case.
My phones look great even after years of use because I never put the phone in the same pocket as coins, keys or anything metal. Plus I do what MDN does, screen towards the body to prevent accidental scratching or impacts.
My iPhone 5 still looks new!
You have to be kludgy about taking care of your most important comm device if you whack it up.
I have purchased a top end iPhone and iWatch every year. The old product is placed back in its original packaging and given to one of my children or grandchildren. The phones look like brand new. I never have used a case or replaced a face. I have no sympathy for anyone with complaints in this area.
Put it in a different pocket from my keys!!!!! That’s too haaaard. I’d rather just whine.
Huh? I’ve had every iPhone since the original and everyone since the iPhone 6 has been AMAZINGLY scratch resistant. I am holding my 1 year old iPhone X and its almost perfect. What phones can endure now is a modern marvel. Water proof – scratch resistant, and most can easily survive a 3ft drop. We live in amazing times. If you want to bitch about something lets talk battery life 😉
Right, the design choice is between cracking vs scratching, and since people often buy sacrificial screen protectors, the obvious choice for the screen maker is to design more for crack protection.
good point in the article that this glass cant be both drop proof and scratch resistant.
a few years ago we know that apple seeded money to corning for further development work on gorilla glass.
we can now figure out that apple chose to improve the glass’s drop proofness.
this helps apple with fewer repairs due to glass fractures.
but it doesn’t help us who want fewer scratches on our glass.