If you wish to know why Corning made Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the brand new shell glass the corporate unveiled at this time, you may thank (or blame) your large, fats cellphone.
When Corning got down to make unbreakable glass 15 years in the past and began testing on cell units, the benchmark was 160g, which greater than coated the unique iPhone, which weighed 135g. Examine this to the iPhone 14 Professional, which weighs in at a hefty 206g, the iPhone 14 Professional Max, which weighs a chunky 240 grams, or the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely, which weighs in at a beefy 228 grams.
Corning VP and Basic Supervisor of Gorilla Glass David R. Velasquez instructed me this week that trendy smartphones at the moment are filled with rather more expertise (higher cameras, extra sensors, greater batteries) and are heavier and denser than the telephones Corning initially examined on.
Now the benchmark is 200g. It is nonetheless shy of among the weight of latest telephones, however weight is not the one a part of Corning’s testing technique that is modified and, extra importantly, this Gorilla Glass is not the identical both.
Victus 2 is a brand new Gorilla Glass formulation. Once we requested for particulars, Velasquez confirmed that it’s totally different from the unique Victus, which was launched two years in the past, however added “It is higher, that is as a lot element as I may give.”
The result’s a thinner glass that resists scratches simply as effectively however gives higher breaking efficiency.
Nevertheless, Corning has modified its testing technique. After years of dropping hundreds of telephones from 1M and 2M heights onto simulated asphalt surfaces (sandpaper that represents the roughness of the floor with metallic beneath), Corning has added simulated concrete. Guess they lastly realized we drop as many telephones on the sidewalk as we do on the street.
With “concrete”, Corning Gorilla Glass exams Victus 2 at 1M and nonetheless makes use of “asphalt” for 2M exams. The distinction will not be a lot hardness as it’s the jaggedness of the surfaces. To show, Corning despatched me a sheet embedded with two sandpaper squares with roughness designed to simulate each surfaces. The “concrete” is noticeably rougher to the contact.
It isn’t simply greater telephones that make Corning’s job more durable. Velasquez jogged my memory that there was a time when it was comparatively simpler to guard glass screens.
“Within the outdated days, earlier than there have been molded glass components, many of the design work was in regards to the body that the telephones would have. The iPhone 4 was the primary time the glass was raised, an enormous change and more likely to interrupt,” he mentioned.
Immediately, telephones just like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely, Google Pixel 7 Professional and iPhone 14 Professional appear to be made nearly solely of glass. I believe Corning is aware of make a cellphone that may by no means break, however the collaboration between the glass masking firm and the cellphone maker does not fairly work that means.
“OEMs come to us typically [and say], ‘Here is what we’ll be launching in 3.5 years from now. Are you able to do that in glass, in that case, what are the design issues?’” Velasquez defined.
What follows are conversations and even some tweaking of molecules and the way they’re designed to strengthen the glass.
Velasquez was fast so as to add that cellphone makers do not get customized glass merchandise. However understanding the course cellphone makers are headed may have an effect on the sorts of glass (maybe even Victus 2) that Corning produces now and sooner or later.
Whereas Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is stronger than Victus 1, Corning has no management over how cellphone producers use it.
“Most cellphone firms take this significantly better glass and so they make it thinner. Telephones can by no means be skinny sufficient, or they make a extra aggressive design,” Velasquez mentioned.
Are you able to fold it?
Talking of aggressive designs, I needed to ask about bendable glass. Corning does not have a bendable product now, however the future might be a distinct story.
Velasquez confirmed that Corning is in “deep dialogue with all the foremost prospects about the place they’re going. Some are additional alongside than others.”
The corporate expects to launch within the coming years however may share little else about its plans. Nonetheless, Velasquez says Corning could be very enthusiastic about bendable glass.
“What’s actually nice about working with prospects to allow bendable designs is that it is actually, actually onerous to get the glass to bend and contact itself. It is one of many hardest attainable issues you may think about. Corning tends to to excel the place the issue is absolutely onerous. Our researchers like to sink their enamel into it.”
However for now, Corning and its companions are grinding their enamel on near-unbreakable and equally hard-to-scratch Gorilla Glass Victus 2. OEMs have the glass samples, and there are already some “design-ins.” Valesquez expects “bulletins from a few of our companions within the subsequent three months”
Within the meantime, we’re ready for actually unbreakable smartphone glass. Corning is engaged on it, however Velasquez instructed me “Not there but however will proceed to battle that battle.”
In the event you’re in search of some telephones that characteristic the present model of Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus, there isn’t any higher place to begin than our greatest telephones of 2022.
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