Rumor: Apple to feature sapphire crystal touch home button on 'iPhone 5S'

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Comments

  • Reply 81 of 89
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    kdarling wrote: »
    Thanks.  I also ran across this very informational video about how the sapphire is made, and how much it would cost to use on a smartphone (currently $30, in mass production perhaps $10-$15... versus $3 for Gorilla Glass).

    <iframe width="640" height="385" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

    Neat video. I don't think price is the biggest obstacle, especially for Apple. I didn't see anything that mentions it thickness or strength. They only mention it's hardness. I think both of these are very important if it's to replace Gorilla Glass.



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  • Reply 82 of 89
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by imKj View Post

    ok Mr Expert


     


    Either prove your point or don't expect people not to call you out when you say something ludicrous.


     


    The Quote button in the bottom right is what you want, not Reply. Reply does absolutely nothing whatsoever; no idea why it's there.

  • Reply 83 of 89
    v5vv5v Posts: 1,357member



    Originally Posted by AnalogJack View Post



    I can feel a tsunami of excitement building for the next iPhone iteration.


     




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post



    When it comes to iOS I can't contain my excitement. The wait is incredible. It's easily the most excited I've been for Apple since 2007.


     


    I don't know who to feel sorry for... me, because I don't get to enjoy that kind of anticipatory excitement from a tech device, or you, because your life has unfolded in a way that makes a gadget a high enough priority to make you giddy!


     


    image

  • Reply 84 of 89
    v5vv5v Posts: 1,357member



    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post


    If the home button ceases to be a physical button, this will be the boldest move since the introduction of the iPhone. There's just something inherently satisfying, and confidence inducing, and actually having the button depress. I despise capacitive buttons. If Apple can figure out a way to give a decent amount of feedback while preventing accidental usage, then I agree, it would be an improvement. But the current button is definitely a major part of the iPhone's intuitiveness. 



     


    Until it fails. Then it is a monument to your frustration, mocking you as it withholds the content and function you require so near yet impossible to reach. Confidence and intuitiveness are useless and meaningless in the context of a phone you can't use AT ALL.


     


    I haven't owned a 5 so I don't know how that one is, but both my 3G and 4 gave up the home button before my three-year contract was up.


     


    I would warmly welcome a non-mechanical home switch.

  • Reply 85 of 89
    v5vv5v Posts: 1,357member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    This is stupid.  it's like you are purposely trying to create an Urban Legend or something. 



     


    Are you KIDDING?! Home button failure is a MYTH?! Have you been sequestered again?


     




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    I work in tech and see dozens of iPhones and iPads daily for years now.  I help fix them for people and train them on the software.  


    I've run into maybe two or three folks that had trouble with the Home button in all that time.  



     


    Where do you work, Antarctica? 


     


    Mechanical switches fail. It's a fact of life. It doesn't mean Apple has done something wrong; any heavily used switch is gonna need replacement periodically, whether it's an arcade game, computer keyboard or pocket computer / telephone.


     


    I'm not trying to be insulting and I respect your views, but this particular subject is so widely discussed that it's extremely surprising that anyone on an Apple forum would not be familiar with the issue. It's widespread and pervasive. Just ask any Genius Bar tech.

  • Reply 86 of 89
    v5vv5v Posts: 1,357member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post





    Not that I don't want the whole front of the phone to be sapphire crystal, but you don't want the front to be seamless. Well, you want the home button to be recessed, which would make it far more tricky making the entire front in one piece. This is so you can feel for the button. All that gesture nonsense would be exactly that on a iOS device bezel. The current solution certainly has it's failure rates, and there is perhaps a better solution, but gesturing around the bottom bezel is not it. It's not a good experience and totally unintuitive. Perhaps for now at least, a better engineered, more reliable home button might be the best solution of all. Yes, a home button that doesn't move would basically never fail, but that doesn't mean it's a better user experience in use. It might be a bad experience in use, with accidental presses happening too often, and the lack of a positive click to reinforce the buttons use might make it a terrible idea. Perhaps a sound plus a particular simultaneous vibration might suffice in place of the current button movement plus a physical click? Perhaps, but it doesn't feel like it would. I don't know, this is a deceptively difficult problem to solve. Gestures are not the answer, I know that much.


     


    I don't know if I agree with you, but I do respect your thoughtful, respectful, reasoned post. No insults, clearly stated preferences and rational, and recognition of how others like to use their device. Nice.

  • Reply 87 of 89
    v5vv5v Posts: 1,357member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by KDarling View Post


    Thanks.  I also ran across this very informational video about how the sapphire is made, and how much it would cost to use on a smartphone (currently $30, in mass production perhaps $10-$15... versus $3 for Gorilla Glass).


     


     



     


    Which probably translates to "ain't gonna happen." Still, it might be cool to offer a special order version with the Sapphire. How much does $15 in parts cost translate to in finished product retail dollars? Dropping my iPhone cost $170, so it might be economically viable for clumsier users like me to pay more for one that's hard to smash.

  • Reply 88 of 89
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by KDarling View Post


     


    Thanks.  I also ran across this very informational video about how the sapphire is made, and how much it would cost to use on a smartphone (currently $30, in mass production perhaps $10-$15... versus $3 for Gorilla Glass).


     


    image



    That is a great video, thanks for posting.

  • Reply 89 of 89


    Sapphire is the best material for these screen uses. With sapphire growers becoming more efficient, the prices will come down and will get even better if phone manufacturers start switching to sapphire. 

    The big question is who will shape and polish the sapphire to fit the phones? 

    Guild Optical Associates in Amherst, NH. has been perfecting sapphire window manufacturing for over 23 years. They have even been working on some prototype screens for these uses. To learn more about Guild Optics, visit www.guildoptics.com

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