Leaked: Apple invents a method to strengthen iPhone 6 sapphire glasses

Apple has been using the sapphire glass for the iPhone 5 series. The sapphire glass is presently being used on the camera and the home buttons, which houses the lens and the biometric fingerprint scanner respectively.

Recent leaked information has been pointing out that Apple is going to use the sapphire glass, on the next flagship iPhone 6, to protect the display screen too.

The sapphire glass is said to be stronger than the conventional Corning Gorilla Glass 3, and also carries a higher price since the process of manufacturing a sapphire glass is far more expensive (10 times) than the Gorilla Glass. The sapphire glass has a score of 9 on the Mohs scales of hardness, while the Gorilla Glass 3 scores 6.8 (higher the better); Diamond scores a 10 on the Mohs scale.

Leaked by Patently Apple, the article shows a patent owned by Apple. This process is an invention by Apple to strengthen the sapphire glass even further than its current hardness. The patent reveals a multi-step process by Apple to strengthen the sapphire glass.

Apple plans on using corundum, an aluminium oxide, which is an abrasive mineral, to coat the surface of the sapphire glass.

The report on Patently Apple states, ‘The chemical strengthening process for glass, where diffusion substitutionally replaces smaller ions with larger ions, creates a compressive stress layer around the surface of the glass part that serves to prevent the propagation of surface cracks. In contrast, the instant ion implantation of sapphire bombards the sapphire part with high-energy  ions, which are embedded interstitially or otherwise in the subsurface to create a similar thin layer or compressive stress that serves to arrest crack propagation.’

The report further states, ‘the implanted ions help to preserve the integrity of the sapphire part, for example, should a defect or crack develop due to stresses such as drop events that result in the sapphire part impacting a hard surface.’

Whatever Apple is doing with the new sapphire glass and the iPhone 6, we are yet to witness the same when Apple finally unveils the iPhone and the complete official specifications. If Apple plans on using the technology on the upcoming iPhone 6, then get ready for a really expensive smartphone.

Also Read: Sapphire glass will make the iPhone 6 even more expensive

What also will make the iPhone 6 expensive is the larger storage capacity, which was recently leaked. Apple is said to do away with the 32GB variant and only manufacture 16GB, 64GB and 128GB iPhone 6 variants.

Aldo read: Leaked: iPhone 6 will come in 128GB variant too