Earlier today we got a quick look at a flexible iPhone 6 display, but a new video from YouTuber Marques Brownlee (embedded below) takes the supposed next-gen screen through a more complete durability test. In the video, Brownlee not only bends the flexible sapphire panel, but takes a set of keys and even a knife to it in an attempt to leave a scratch.
The beginning of video features a look at the sapphire crystal that will reportedly make up the next-generation iPhone’s display. As demonstrated in the video, the glass is extremely clear (which is why Apple currently uses it in the iPhone’s camera lens and the Touch ID sensor on the 5s). After a quick examination of the crystal-clear glass, Brownlee really put it to the test…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R0_FJ4r73s&feature=youtu.be]
In the second half of the video, Brownlee puts the iPhone display through a quick scratch test using a pocket knife and a set of keys. When he’s unable to leave so much as a tiny scratch on the panel’s surface, he moves on to a bend test with similar results, as you can see in the video above.
Though there’s still much testing to be done, the sapphire crystal display held up very well. By the end of the test, Brownlee concluded that he would be unable to actually leave a mark on the panel without mechanical assistance.
At the end of last month, 9to5Mac exclusively uncovered comparison photos of both the black and white versions of the soon-to-be-announced iPhone 6 display. It’s also been rumored that the upcoming device will not feature as much additional battery life as many users were hoping for due to its thinner design.
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Reblogged this on Taste of Apple and commented:
The iPhone has always held up fairly against scratching…the true test of it’s durability will be how well it does when dropped. I’m hoping it isn’t as prone to shattering.
Looked like it took scratches to me. 3:38 and beyond when the light hits the screen you can see what looks like scratches to me. I hate these tests.
Honestly couldn’t see anything. Where on the screen did you see the scratch (e.g.top left/bottom center)?
“Looked like it took scratches to me. 3:38 and beyond when the light hits the screen you can see what looks like scratches to me”
Those were just reflections off his Samsung phone.
That was your retina. Glaucoma maybe.
Keep perpetuating the stereotype of fanboys. Good job.
@sardonick — that scratch is actually on the Android device you’re using to watch the video.
Wow. What a witty response. Typical of this demographic. Look again and actually open your eyes.
Wow. What a delusionoid.
There is no scratch. Deal with it.
Maybe, but it could be dust. There’s definitely some dust on there.
Yup. That’s why I said “looked like…..to me”. Easy to cause a stir here.
Where exactly on the screen? I see absolutely nothing.
I just put it up to the highest YT resolution (says 4k) on my 2012 iMac and went full screen. I can see what you are referring to but it is definitely fibres, possibly from the carpet but it isn’t scratches
If anything it’s debris from the knife/keys which weren’t rubbed off. Sapphire will scratch and damage them and the only thing left will be debris on the screen.
I see the marks you’re talking about at 3:38. I can’t see them clearly enough to determine if they’re scratches or dust.
But for what it’s worth, Marques Brownlee is not an Apple partisan. I believe he uses an HTC as his main phone. He tests and reviews all kinds of tech including iPhones and Android phones and others. I’ve never seen him give an unfair review and I’ve never seen him shy away from pointing out a bad point on a product he otherwise liked. If there was a scratch and he’d noticed it, I believe he’d mention it.
And if there was a scratch, I’d be okay with it, because he took a pretty good go at it with that knife!
For those who can’t see the scratches, they’re almost all over his middle finger between 3:38-3:40
If there are scratches then it isn’t sapphire, but I see no scratches.
Bloggers need to quit milking Sonny Dickson’s stolen parts for clicks. Same with all the bad case mockups or renderings. Just let the damn thing be announced.
Clearly you know nothing about bloggers. They make a living like this, of every single leak or rumor they can get
I’m aware. No one should expect to make a living that way though. People aren’t being informed of anything substantial. This isn’t reporting. This is people being leeches.
I swear, every iphone is getting thinner and thinner, useful info though.
I’m thoroughly impressed by this. I don’t care for others who wish to slam my views, but that looks fantastic!
Beyond my expectations. I expected it to break. If he really was trying to break it, I’m impressed.
I don’t get it.
What’s the point in making the iPhone’s screen so resistant when its back is aluminium? You lay your iPhone on its back on a table and it will get scratched. The screen is always upwards and safe from scratches. And if your screen gets scratched or broken, it is easier and cheaper to change its screen than what it is to change its flimsy aluminium unibody.
Reblogged this on BobLovesTech and commented:
Looks pretty strong
Besides the durability, which is great, the most interesting part of this for me was the side by side which showed the bezels at 30 which showed the bezels significantly thinner than in the mockups.
Your right. I had to do a retake.. the bezels are a lot thinner than the mockups.. The mockups are based partly off the 5s for the front screen.. sooooo maybe it will be thinner on the bezel..
The first thing I noticed too. Thank god!
I think they look the same size. The bevelled edge gives the illusion they are thinner perhaps.
No, the bezels are all thinner. The bevel actually wouldn’t because you are seeing the same amount of the bezel looking straight down, I think. It’s just like if you shaved off a tiny amount of the glass all around the edges so it slopes downward all the way around it, but from above you see the same amount of bezel. If it literally curved then you would see less, but it just slopes.
They still look substantially the same to me. We will find out when it ships. They seem to disappear due to refraction when the beveled edge is looked through at an angle, so I’m going to assume for now that they are the same until it’s proven otherwise.
For the record I would love it if they *were* smaller. The iPads in particular have huge bezels that could be reduced by at least 50% IMO.
did you see how the contrast got better when he hold in front of the camera?
you people are missing the point. the vast majority of catastrophic damages are not scratches.. are breaking. I wanted to see this black guy hammer it to see what happens
You’re sick, the home button hole isn’t even, nearly big enough.
Since hammering an iPhone already breaks it hammering this to break it proves nothing. I’ll still be rocking a case, but I’ll be never again using a screen protector film.
hold up, do you really hammer your phone? why would he.
A device becomes more susceptible to shattering if there are scratches or hairline cracks.
Why did you have to mention he’s black?
>> Why did you have to mention he’s black?
Excellent question. He won’t have a valid response, I assure you.
OMG! Sapphire kicks butt!
Sides, top and bottom bezels are thinner…me liking. Look at the gap from touch ID hole to the bottom of the screen and compare it with the 5s.
Was I the only one cringing biting my lip when he had the screen under his shoe bending it up? I though for sure it was going to snap. Looking forward to seeing more of these type of videos.
Looks like Apple has a great selling point with the screen.
The keys and knife are all metal, known to be softer than sapphire. I’d like to see something harder and also more difficult to control contact with, such as sand.
Sand. The easiest way to tell if it’s sapphire is by using sand. Sand is quartz and will scratch any glass including gorilla glass but sapphire should be immune to it.
I always wanted to try on my 5S camera cover screen but even knowing it’s physically impossible to scratch without a diamond, I dare not.
I don’t get it.
What’s the point in making the iPhone’s screen so bloody resistant when its back is fucking aluminium? You lay your iPhone on its back on a table and it will get scratched. The screen is always upwards and safe from scratches. And if your screen gets scratched or broken, it is easier and cheaper to change its screen than what it is to change its flimsy aluminium unibody.
I don’t get it.
What’s the point in making the iPhone’s screen so resistant when its back is aluminium? You lay your iPhone on its back on a table and it will get scratched. The screen is always upwards and safe from scratches. And if your screen gets scratched or broken, it is easier and cheaper to change its screen than what it is to change its flimsy aluminium unibody.
And exactly HOW did you determine that it’s made of Sapphire? Because the latest Gorilla glass can do all that too.
There is no gorilla glass that comes close to the scratch resistance of sapphire. If gorilla glass can withstand all of that then this could or could not be sapphire, either way gorilla glass isn’t anywhere near as good.
Actually the latest Gorilla Glass cannot do all of this.
Corning has been talking some smack about the sapphire, but everything they have said (they have actually claimed Gorilla Glass 2 is harder and less likely to shatter than sapphire), is completely the opposite of what the science tells us (sapphire is actually much harder and somewhat less likely to shatter).
Them saying it doesn’t make it true. We will have to see what happens in the real world once the product is introduced, but there is not really any scientific basis for the claims Corning has been making about this issue.
nice to have but i like the corning anti reflective coding much more then the better scratch resistance! no scratches on my iphone 5s or 4s…
Oh I see, you have already seen the finished Apple panel and know how much reflectance it has, that’s cool.
The real question is… Will it blend?