Manual de servicio

Sapphire crystal displays slammed ahead of iPhone 6 launch

Apple is looking increasingly more likely to employ sapphire crystal screen technology on the rumoured iPhone 6, and that appears to be rubbing the current leader in mobile glass up the wrong way.


Tony Tripeny, executive at Corning (maker of the popular Gorilla Glass which adorns many smartphones), wasted no time highlighting sapphires disadvantages during a Morgan Stanley Technology conference.

Tripeny raised several points surrounding the negative aspect of sapphire technology, "its about 10 times more expensive [than Gorilla Glass]. Its about 1.6 times heavier. Its environmentally unfriendly."

There are also concerns about sapphires opacity, which could potentially make the screen harder to view and Tripeny noted "it transmits less light which... means either dimmer devices or shorter battery life."

Not so tough

Coring reckons that its Gorilla Glass offering can also withstand more pressure than the sapphire equivalent - "about 2.5 times more pressure" in fact, although we cant put this claim to the test at the moment.

Apple will be aware of the issues surrounding sapphire glass as its already used it to cover the TouchID sensor on the iPhone 5S and protect the lens on the iPhone 5, 5C and 5S.

The iPhone 6 is expected to arrive later this year so well have to wait and see if sapphire is the screen of choice for the Cupertino firm and whether itll push the price of the handset up.