2023 Author: Gordon Kinson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-06-01 01:17
At the presentation of the iPhone 12, it was announced that a protective coating called Ceramic Shield appeared on the screens of new smartphones. It four times reduces the risk of screen damage when the smartphone falls. But what is actually hidden behind the big name? Is this a new and effective technology or just another marketing gimmick?
Quote from the iPhone description on Apple's official website:
Working with glass
Since the very first release of the iPhone in 2007, the Apple smartphone has been equipped with a glass display. One should know about this material that the silicon dioxide molecules in it are not arranged in any orderly manner. Such a substance is called amorphous, shapeless.
The atoms of other substances are arranged in a three-dimensional ordered matrix. Examples are metals, diamonds, sapphire and ceramics. They have a so-called crystal structure. And it is she who allows the substance to be very durable.
Glass, although hard to the touch, is still quite fragile and breaks quite easily. This unpleasant discovery was made by many iPhone owners. Over time, Apple and other smartphone manufacturers began to work closely with Corning, Inc. to develop more durable and scratch-resistant glass. Several generations of this material, known as Gorilla Glass, have been released. Its increased protective properties are achieved due to ion exchange, in which sodium ions in the material are replaced by potassium ions.
Despite this chemical hardening, classic Gorilla Glass is still glass, retaining its amorphous structure. The engineers took on a difficult task: to preserve the material's high transparency and the desired optical properties, but at the same time to give it the strength of the crystal structure. This is exactly what the Ceramic Shield was supposed to be.
How is Ceramic Shield different from glass?
The development of the new coating was carried out by the same Corning in cooperation with Apple. The manufacturer's website says that ceramics can be considered a close relative of glass. But the main difference between them lies in the chemical bonds that form the internal structure of the material. If atoms in glass are randomly arranged, in ceramics bonds are formed between positive and negative ions, which generates a stable crystal pattern. It scatters light hitting the material. Because of this phenomenon, ceramics are usually opaque, with rare exceptions.
The intermediate position between the two materials is occupied by glass ceramics. In the initial phase of its production, they work with it as with glass, but at one of the next stages, "nucleating agents" are introduced into the material. They are usually silver or titanium particles. Subsequently, crystals begin to grow around the embryos, subject to strict observance of the temperature. The process is very similar to Apple's referenced "high temperature crystallization stage." Nanoceramic crystals noticeably increase the impact strength of glass, it turns out to be much more resistant to scratches and destruction. This is a huge engineering breakthrough, and the new material seems to be much cheaper than sapphire crystal. It never became a reliable protection for Apple smartphones.
Interestingly, glass-ceramics are generally not a new solution for the smartphone market. Some smartphone models (Essential Phone, Xiaomi, Samsung, etc.) were already produced with such a coating on the back of the case, while the front panel was covered with tempered glass. Apple decided it was more important to protect the screen than the case. Ideally, we would like to fully protect the case, but this would already affect the cost of the device.
See also:
- What makes the iPhone 12 different from the iPhone 11: a detailed comparison.
- 20 iPhone features that can be disabled for most users
- Themes for iPhone (new icons): how to change, where to download, how to make money on it.
