Mike Wuerthele
A new version of the Corning Gorilla Glass used in iPhone screens since launch promises better impact resistance for equipped devices, with the improved glass panels surviving falls from greater heights than previous versions.
The new cover glass has been formulated to provide enhanced protection against breakage from everyday drops. To better test the improvements on the new glass, Corning altered its evaluation process to better reflect actual use cases and drop conditions.
According to Corning, the new product survives up to 80 percent of the time when dropped face-down from a height of 1.6 meters (five feet, three inches) onto rough surfaces, as opposed to the smoother surfaces that previous testing was performed on. Previous drop testing was performed from one meter.
Gorilla Glass 5 is currently available for manufacturers and designers. Corning expects appearances of Gorilla Glass 5 on consumer electronics later this year.
Gorilla Glass 4 was revealed in November 2014, and emphasized sharp-corner breakage resistance. Apple only very rarely discloses component suppliers, but it is known the company has been using Corning's Gorilla Glass in all iPhone models since the launch of the product.
Corning executives claim that the sapphire glass used in the Apple Watch, some iPhone camera lenses, and the Touch ID sensor, is 1.6 times heavier, transmits less light, and is ten times more expensive than its own Gorilla Glass.
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16 Comments
I bet Corning toast Steve every year on the anniversary of the day he asked them to make it!
It greatly amused me a few years ago when Gorilla Glass officially launched and people went on and on about how Apple should switch to it. "Surely, this new glass will help keep iPhone screens from breaking!" the pundits cried. The original formula is what iPhone used from day 1, and they've upgraded with each successive formula improvement.
If Corning's 80% success rate is true and based on how many iPhones I have seen in use with cracked/smashed screens, then some people sure have dropped their phone a lot of times. I have dropped mine to a hard surface about 5 times over 4 years and have yet to get a crack or dent -- but I use some sort of protective case. All of my 4 immediate family members use cases and have yet to have such a failure. Use a case!