Apple Moves to Sapphire but Corning Makes Tougher Gorilla Glass

Corning's Gorilla Glass role in Apple products have been questioned in the past as the tech giant reportedly makes a move towards sapphire. However, Corning may not yet be ready to give up the reigns as it unveils Gorilla Glass 4 which promises to be twice as harder with improved drop damage resistance. Who will Apple go for?

The release of the new Gorilla Glass version came just in time following Apple's attempted move to use sapphire instead in its iPhone series. The sapphire deal did not go as smoothly with GT Advanced Technologies driving the named supplier even to bankruptcy according to the Wall Street Journal. The company's press release calls the new product as the "latest breakthrough innovation in consumer electronics material design."

The company goes as far to claim that their Gorilla Glass 4 is around two times tougher compared to the competitive glass design available in the market presently. The product has been crafted to resolve consumer concerns about screen breakage due to regular drops. It is also twice stronger in terms of damage resistance related to competitive aluminosilicate glass. This offers people enhanced mechanical durability of the glass including field damage events like drops.

Corning also explained its research process looking over hundreds of damaged devices. According to the evaluation, the damage comes from sharp contact which affects over 70% of field failures. In order to come up with the product, scientists had to create new drop-test methods reflecting real-life events poring hours to check how cover glass breaks and fails. The study revealed the following:

-Gorilla Glass 4 is up to two times tougher than competitive glasses

-Gorilla Glass 4 survives up to 80 percent of the time

-Soda-lime glass, as deployed in today's commercial devices, breaks nearly 100 percent of the time.

According to senior vice president and general manager of Corning Specialty Materials, James R. Steiner: "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."

Analysts think that there might be some changes in the future about Apple's choice of screen. The tech giant has not commented on the matter.