CES: Corning Gorilla Glass 2 is 0.8mm thick, withstands 121 pounds of pressure

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Corning's new Gorilla Glass 2 will allow smartphone makers to produce glass panels that are up to 20 percent thinner while maintaining the same levels of strength and durability.



The new Gorilla Glass was unveiled this week in Las Vegas, Nev., at the Consumer Electronics Show. While the original Gorilla Glass was about 1 millimeter thick, the new material is 20 percent thinner at just 0.8mm.



Corning said Gorilla Glass 2 will enable device makers to build thinner and sleeker devices with brighter images and greater touch sensitivity. Gorilla Glass is widely believed to be used in Apple's iPhone and iPad, though the company has not revealed its suppliers for recent products like the iPhone 4S and iPad 2.



"Corning Gorilla Glass has enjoyed tremendous market adoption in the high-growth mobile handset and computing device market, providing a replacement for plastic and legacy soda-lime glass as a protective cover and elegant design solution," said James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Specialty Materials.



"We knew Corning Gorilla Glass could get even better. So, in response to our customers? drive toward thinner form factors, we designed this new glass to enable meaningful reduction in thickness without sacrificing the outstanding glass performance for which Gorilla Glass has become highly recognized. This glass, along with Windows operating system innovations from Microsoft, will help deliver exceptional beauty, performance, and toughness for new Windows PCs. You will see this early this year with Windows-based PCs which we expect to be the first in-market laptops designed to leverage the performance of our new second-generation glass."



Product qualification and design implementation for Corning Gorilla Glass 2 is said to be underway with Corning's customers. Devices featuring Gorilla Glass 2 will reportedly be unveiled over the coming months. According to Gizmodo, while the new glass is just 0.8mm, it can withstand 121 pounds of pressure without cracking.









Corning's special glass is 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, thanks to a chemically strengthened alkali-aluminosilicate material. It is the most widely used cover glass, featured in more than 30 major brands and 575 different product models, with more than 500 million units sold worldwide.



Gorilla Glass sales are expected to reach more than $700 million in 2011. That's more than triple what Corning sold in 2010.



"We?re very excited about the introduction of Corning?s thin, high-performing Gorilla Glass 2,? said Nick Parker, vice president, Worldwide OEM Marketing, Microsoft. ?As Windows continues to bring new experiences to customers on new devices, we look to Corning to bring innovative, durable glass solutions that enable brighter images and greater touch sensitivity."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 154
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    According to Gizmodo, while the new glass is just 0.8mm, it can withstand 121 pounds of pressure without cracking.



    Pounds are a unit of force, not pressure. Being able to withstand 121 pounds of force means absolutely nothing on it's own. How much is the force spread out? How far is it from the supports?



    That being said, this looks very promising. I wonder if the 4S already uses it (or a variant) and that's one of the reasons why Apple kept their lips sealed?
  • Reply 2 of 154
    Given its high tech nature and use in electronics, they should really call it Gorilla Glass 2.0.



    And what's up with the Microsoft product placement? Are we now going to get product placements in press releases?
  • Reply 3 of 154
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "We knew Corning Gorilla Glass could get even better. So, in response to our customers? drive toward thinner form factors, we designed this new glass to enable meaningful reduction in thickness without sacrificing the outstanding glass performance for which Gorilla Glass has become highly recognized. This glass, along with Windows operating system innovations from Microsoft, will help deliver exceptional beauty, performance, and toughness for new Windows PCs. You will see this early this year with Windows-based PCs which we expect to be the first in-market laptops designed to leverage the performance of our new second-generation glass."



    Is that a quote from a Corning guy or a Microsoft guy? The whole paragraph makes no mention of who said it \
  • Reply 4 of 154
    I've never really understood the whole, "Hey, look at the stuff we set on top of our glass! It bends! Because that really happens in ANY use case!"



    I want to see a panel of this glass dropped on the ground from three feet. Who cares how far it bends? Who cares how much weight it can hold?
  • Reply 5 of 154
    There's something else behind that "public" number. Like sales claims that use language like "four times less than the leading competitor!" 121 psi? 121 lbs on that shiny metal display they have in the shot? Well, no - the test video on Gizmodo shows a rig - probably some sort of standard - with a defined probe trying to push through a defined disc of glass with with a (70's throwback wood-grained red-LED-segment display) force sensor. Still pretty tough stuff, their demo really shows that it's 20% thinner with the same strength. I'd continue to avoid back pocket storage, if only to not have to explain it to the medical professionals who will have to attend any wounds. The deflection demo with the steel balls is impressive for a piece of glass to bend without breaking.
  • Reply 6 of 154
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jpellino View Post


    The deflection demo with the steel balls is impressive for a piece of glass to bend without breaking.



    the true test is putting it into your back pocket and then sitting down on a hard surface. If it does not break it's good...
  • Reply 7 of 154
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    My iPhone 4 fell 3 feet from my pocket and the screen completely shattered. My iPhone 4S screen came in contact with my keys in my pocket and now has a permanent scratch across it. In real-world conditions Gorilla Glass is extremely fragile. All these claims of strength are a bunch of B.S.
  • Reply 8 of 154
    uymanuyman Posts: 36member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bluefish86 View Post


    Pounds are a unit of force, not pressure. Being able to withstand 121 pounds of force means absolutely nothing on it's own. How much is the force spread out? How far is it from the supports?



    That being said, this looks very promising. I wonder if the 4S already uses it (or a variant) and that's one of the reasons why Apple kept their lips sealed?



    I like the comment about force and pressure!
  • Reply 9 of 154
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MojoRilla View Post


    ... they should really call it Gorilla Glass 2.0 ....



    I thought the reverse. This announcement seems really underwhelming to me.



    A slight improvement in the exact same properties as the current Gorilla Glass which is itself slightly improved from the first incarnation of it? I was expecting more given the hype before the announcement.



    Also, there is no mention here of the only metric that really matters which is incidence of shattering when a strong sideways force is applied. In other words is it going to break less often when dropped?



    Bendability is irrelevant. Only a complete idiot would put a glass phone in their back pocket and then sit down whereas lots and lots of very intelligent people accidentally drop their phones daily.
  • Reply 10 of 154
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    My iPhone 4 fell 3 feet from my pocket and the screen completely shattered. My iPhone 4S screen came in contact with my keys in my pocket and now has a permanent scratch across it. In real-world conditions Gorilla Glass is extremely fragile. All these claims of strength are a bunch of B.S.



    I wouldn't call the claims B S, but I certainly agree they are not scratch resistant. In fact I'd say it scratches easier than regular brittle glass.



    In the SJ Bio it was suggested that it was SJ that was responsible for the re-emergence of Gorilla glass. That production had been shelved until Steve made them pick it up again. I am surprised Apple didn't make moves to restrict access for competing companies.
  • Reply 11 of 154
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
  • Reply 12 of 154
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bluefish86 View Post


    Pounds are a unit of force, not pressure. Being able to withstand 121 pounds of force means absolutely nothing on it's own. How much is the force spread out? How far is it from the supports?<...>



    Pounds are units of mass, not force, but the rest of your argument is reasonable.



    So many great gadgets on CES... The CES coverage on AI is (expectedly) lacking... Oh, well...
  • Reply 13 of 154
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    It is the most widely used cover glass, featured in more than 30 million brands

    ...

    Gorilla Glass sales are expected to reach more than $700 million in 2011.



    So Corning only gets $22 from each company that uses it?
  • Reply 14 of 154
    Quote:

    30 million brands and 575 different product models



    So this would mean, that each brand/manufacturer has created 0,00001916666667 models each using Gorilla-glass? That either some serious collaboration or pretty funky math.



    Perhaps someone should move a comma somewhere
  • Reply 15 of 154
    chabigchabig Posts: 641member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrDoppio View Post


    Pounds are units of mass, not force...



    What school did you attend? Pounds are units of force. The english unit of mass is the slug.
  • Reply 16 of 154
    s4mb4s4mb4 Posts: 267member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    I wouldn't call the claims B S, but I certainly agree they are not scratch resistant. In fact I'd say it scratches easier than regular brittle glass.



    In the SJ Bio it was suggested that it was SJ that was responsible for the re-emergence of Gorilla glass. That production had been shelved until Steve made them pick it up again. I am surprised Apple didn't make moves to restrict access for competing companies.



    not sure about that...

    my 55" Sony TV is covered with a single pane of Gorrilla Glass.
  • Reply 17 of 154
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Yet another industry that Apple helped to remake.



    Corning had no intention of commercializing Gorilla Glass until Apple asked them to. It's now $700 M a year.
  • Reply 18 of 154
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bluefish86 View Post


    Pounds are a unit of force, not pressure. Being able to withstand 121 pounds of force means absolutely nothing on it's own. How much is the force spread out? How far is it from the supports?



    That being said, this looks very promising. I wonder if the 4S already uses it (or a variant) and that's one of the reasons why Apple kept their lips sealed?



    Apple actually asked Corning to come up with Gorilla Glass. Corning dug up some old research they didn't think had any market value. Apple pushed them to turn it in to a product in a short period of time. Now it is a 700 million a year business. Reminds me of Xerox. Except in the case of Xerox, they didn't know they had something of value until too late. We would still be using plastic computers right now if it were not for Apple pushing the boundaries.
  • Reply 19 of 154
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chabig View Post


    What school did you attend? Pounds are units of force. The english unit of mass is the slug.



    While true, pounds can also be used as a unit of mass. It is of couse related to pounds (force) by the gavity at the earth's surface in english units ie. lb(f) = lb(m) x 32ft/sec^2.



    See: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)



    I pretty much have zero faith in the mainstream media to get technical details correct, so im not surprised that they messed up the units of presssure.
  • Reply 20 of 154
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrDoppio View Post


    Pounds are units of mass, not force, but the rest of your argument is reasonable.



    So many great gadgets on CES... The CES coverage on AI is (expectedly) lacking... Oh, well...



    No, Newtons are a unit of force, grams are a unit of mass, and pounds are a bizarre anachronism of the British Imperial system of units, which for some reason the United States of America has decided to cling to (despite a fairly violent split from the British Empire from 1773 through about the next century).



    I do like the original comment, but those slagging the author should be aware that the way glass cracks isn't as simple as just applied force or pressure, as it would be for less brittle materials.
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