Following the release of a video demonstrating just how resilient the iPhone 6’s sapphire screen might be, a leading expert has stated that both the panel and the clip could in fact be authentic.
So chances are that by now you’ll have seen that video of the alleged iPhone 6 screen being stabbed to hell and back with a sharp knife right? Well just in case you haven’t, the video’s below the article so go take a look.
Anyway, the latest twist on the tale comes from a British newspaper, which after speaking to a leading expert on exactly such materials is now 100% convinced that the video and the component it features are in fact genuine.
“I think Apple have been quite cunning,” said Professor Neil Alford, a materials expert at Imperial College London when contacted by The Guardian.
“What I think they’ve done is make a screen out of sapphire, which is incredibly scratch resistant, incredibly hard and has a high elastic modulus – meaning it’s very stiff,”
“In my opinion the screen being shown off in the video could well be a sapphire screen. If you make sapphire thin enough, and it’s flaw free, you can bend it quite considerably because it has an enormous strength.”
The technology itself already appears on Apple’s highest-end devices as covers for both the Touch ID fingerprint scanner and the camera’s lens. However, this would represent the first time sapphire glass had been used to cover an entire touchscreen.
According to Mr. Alford, Apple has been planning to exactly as such for quite some time now.
“I remember the Apple folk coming to speak to me about 18 months ago to discuss sapphire screens,” he added.
“They’ve obviously been busy since then, working with a sapphire manufacturer.”
Alford explained that sapphire has been used in large quantities in electronic components for years,”
“It’s not a surprising thing to do, but it’s quite a large area they’re producing and that’s really quite a challenge. I’m pretty impressed with that, actually.”
Apple is yet to pass comment in its iPhone 6, which is expected to launch in the early fall.