Recently, rumors that Apple and GT Advanced Technology Company signed the first sapphire purchase order, amounting to 576 million US dollars, will bring high quality and cheap sapphire products to Apple in the future. It is reported that the sapphire material on the display will be 2.5 times more durable than the Corning Gorilla glass panel, which is more scratch-resistant and less prone to scratches. Why do apples look at sapphire glass, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of sapphire glass? Let's make an interpretation.
First, what is sapphire glass
The so-called sapphire, the real ingredient is corundum, which is alumina, which is used in industrial grinding, such as sandpaper grinding wheels.
There are also artificial large pieces of sapphire (blue is added with other materials) for jewelry, low price and beautiful appearance. Because it is artificially synthesized without impurities, the decorative effect is far above the expensive natural sapphire.
The sapphire glass is made of corundum.
Compared to ordinary glass, sapphire glass has a very high hardness and a Mohs hardness of 9, second only to diamonds. Ordinary glass has a hardness of only 6-7.
Second, the advantages and disadvantages of sapphire glass
The biggest advantage of sapphire glass is that it is hard, because it is hard and scratch resistant. Corning glass is only chemically tempered glass, hardness is still 6-7
The various small dust particles we encounter on a daily basis often contain quartz with a hardness higher than 7. Therefore, Corning glass will also be scratched.
The sapphire glass has a hardness of 9, in addition to the artificial hard material, only the diamond in the natural world is harder than it, and the dust in the air cannot be scratched.
Wear resistance is also better than Corning glass, which is the advantage of sapphire glass.
However, sapphire glass also has disadvantages, that is, high brittleness and poor impact resistance. Corning glass can be popular not because of his hardness, but because of his impact resistance.
Sapphire glass is commonly used in watches with a thicker, smaller area. Apple also used sapphire glass in the protective glass of the camera.
In addition, the price of sapphire glass is higher than that of chemically tempered glass. Cost is also a disadvantage of sapphire glass.
On mobile phones, only some luxury-grade phones use sapphire glass.
Third, what is Apple's intention?
From the current technology point of view, the sapphire glass is directly used for the main screen of a mobile phone or a tablet, and the price is high, and the anti-drop performance is also affected. In order to resist scratching and wear, the use of sapphire glass is not worth the loss.
So some people speculate that iwatch uses sapphire glass instead of iPhone or iPad.
However, there is still a possibility. GT Advanced Technology's cattle x is to get a very thin sapphire glass sheet, and the cost is low.
If the sheet is attached to ordinary chemically tempered glass, the advantages of both can be taken into consideration, the scratch resistance of the sapphire glass, and the impact resistance of the chemically tempered glass. This solution can be used for mobile phones or tablets. It is not excluded that Apple will use this method to produce the next generation iPhone or iPad.
Under normal circumstances, we will know the answer after a few months.
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