We know that sapphire is an expensive natural gem. So sapphire screen is to make this natural gem into a screen. In fact, sapphire screen is made by purify ordinary gemstones, basically does not show blue, but has very high hardness.
Sapphire screen technology has actually been around for a long time, such as tag heuer watches, military vehicle glass, using the sapphire technology. The hardness of sapphire is only inferior to that of diamonds. The technology manufacturers can purify their elements and apply them on some transparent glass panels to achieve better hardness performance than traditional chemical glass.
It has been reported that Apple has bought a sapphire company. This not only means that iPhone6 may use a sapphire screen, but it may also push the screen technology into the mainstream.
What's the advantage of it to the mobile phone?
Sapphire production has been for some time, all watches Swiss watch brand tag heuer, and transparent armor military vehicles are already using this material. The reason behind this is also very reasonable.
As is known to all, diamonds are the hardest substance in nature, and the rating of the moth hardness table is 10.
By measuring the extent to which different minerals are easily scratched, the Moir hardness table gives 1-10 of the rating, 1 is the softest, and the 10 is the hardest.
Why didn't the mobile phone use sapphire before that?
For the mobile phone industry, sapphire is not really a new thing. Some of the mobile phones have also used this material to serve as a mobile phone screen, but it is mainly a number of high-end products, such as some of the Vertu models. At the same time, Apple has actually used this material: the iPhone 5 and 5S lens are protected by sapphire, and the Touch ID fingerprint sensor of 5S is also covered by sapphire.
So iPhone will be more expensive to sell?
The reasonable assumption is that the sapphire screen will raise the price of the new generation of iPhone, unless apple can find ways to absorb extra cost, or to produce enough enough to reduce costs.
Recently, Apple bought GTAdvanced for three years, which should be to reduce the cost of sapphire production. GTAdvanced technology can produce a sapphire substrate that is thinner than the hair, and can be mounted on a glass screen. This way can significantly reduce the cost of the production of a sapphire screen.
The $578 million deal will also allow GT to buy nearly 1000 melting furnaces to produce sapphire screens, which will further reduce production costs.
Sapphire screen mobile phone trouble
At present, there is another big problem that puzzles sapphire, that is, the purple glare of the iPhone5 camera in the bright area when photographing. This phenomenon is caused by sapphire lens.
If iPhone uses a sapphire screen, then screen brightness will also become another key issue. If the brightness is not up to the standard, the use of iPhone in the outdoor is also a problem.
If the thickness of the sapphire base attached to the screen glass is reduced, this problem should be effectively solved. At the same time, brighter screen technology, such as AMOLED, can also be compensated for.
So will we see a iPhone6 with a AMOLED panel and a sapphire screen and a 5 inch increase in size? Let's wait.