Good news for accident-prone iPhone users. Your smartphone screen could get a lot more durable in the future.
Apple supplier Corning on Thursday introduced its next-generation Gorilla Glass, which it said is two times tougher than any competitive cover glass now in the market. Gorilla Glass 4 was specifically designed to address smartphone users' No. 1 problem — screen breakage due to everyday drops, Corning said.
The company's scientists examined hundreds of broken devices and found that more than 70 percent of breaks were caused by "sharp contact" with rough surfaces, such as dropping the phone onto pavement. They used this knowledge to develop new drop-test methods that simulate real-world break events, dropping devices face-down from one meter in height, so that the glass came in direct contact with a rough surface.
They found that Gorilla Glass 4 is up to two times tougher than competitive glass. The company said it survives drops up to 80 percent of the time.
"Corning Gorilla Glass has outperformed competing materials, such as soda-lime glass and other strengthened glass, since it was introduced in 2007, and we're always innovating to push the limits of what glass can do," James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager of Corning specialty materials, said in a statement. "With Gorilla Glass 4, we have focused on significantly improving protection against sharp contact damage, which is the primary reason that mobile devices break. Dropping and breaking a phone is a common problem, and one that our customers have asked us to help address."
Corning manufactures the glass using a proprietary "fusion draw" process, which maintains thinness, durability, and optical clarity while improving drop performance. Apple isn't the only smartphone maker that uses Gorilla Glass. More than 40 manufacturers have used it in in a total of 1,395 devices to date. Since its launch in 2007, Gorilla Glass has been used in more than 3 billion devices.
There were reports that Apple would switch to sapphire glass for its latest iPhone lineup, but it stuck with Gorilla.
For a look inside the Gorilla Glass 4 development process, check out the video below.