Skip to footer

Check out the (alleged) iPhone 6 sapphire crystal screen

A video from the YouTube channel MKBHD shows what it says is a leaked 4.7-inch iPhone 6 screen. According to the video, the iPhone will feature a high-quality, durable sapphire crystal display. 

|
MKBHD
In this photo, Marques Brownlee, host of the technology YouTube channel MKBHD, discusses the merits of the sapphire crystal display screen, which he says will be used for Apple's iPhone 6.

A new video from the technology YouTube channel MKBHD shows what it says is the entire front panel of glass for an iPhone 6. If this video is accurate, the new iPhone will sport a sheet of sapphire crystal for its display screen as opposed to the traditional Gorilla Glass, the screen made by Corning Inc. According to its website, Corning Gorilla Glass is used on 2,450 product models, 2.7 billion devices, and 33 major brands, including the Apple iPhone.

At least, for now. 

The iPhone 6 is expected to come in models with either a 4.7-inch or a 5.5-inch diagonal screen. In the video, host Marques Brownlee plays with what he says is a leaked 4.7-inch iPhone 6 screen with a sapphire crystal display screen. "An actual, straight-off-the-assembly-line iPhone 6 part from Apple," he says in the video. 

Mr. Brownlee describes how it was anticipated that only the 5.5-inch display would feature the sapphire display. But, he says, the sapphire screen will be used for both versions of the iPhone 6. 

So, why is this screen a big deal? 

For starters, sapphire is extremely high quality and very durable. This is the same material that's already been used for the iPhone 5S camera lens and home button to provide high-quality, clear photos and to allow the device to read users' fingerprints through the glass, according to the video.

Moreover, the material can withstand the blade of a knife and scratches from keys. In the video, Brownlee actually takes the point of a knife to the screen and drags it across the screen's surface. No scratches. He does the same thing with a key. Again, no scratches, no marks. 

Then there's the matter of vision. How easy is this screen on the eyes?

In Brownlee's words, the screen is "perfectly see-through ... zero percent opacity." He adds that there's hardly any distortion when looking through the glass and that there's "absolutely no color shift while looking through" the glass. 

And for those of you worried about how flexible this material is, Brownlee's got you covered. In the video, he places one edge of the glass under his foot as he bends the other side upward. The glass bends, curving as easily as a gymnast's back handspring. Still, no damage. Well, except for some fingerprints Brownlee leaves on the screen from gripping it so tightly. 

"There's absolutely no way I can break this display under my own power," he says. 

In the video, Brownlee also shows what he says is the new home button part with the touch ID sensor for the iPhone 6 which, he says, is the exact same size as the home button on the iPhone 5S. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Check out the (alleged) iPhone 6 sapphire crystal screen
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Horizons/2014/0708/Check-out-the-alleged-iPhone-6-sapphire-crystal-screen
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe