Apple supplier Corning is working on flexible glass for foldable displays
Corning, the glass manufacturer that currently provides Apple, and many other smartphone makers, with Gorilla Glass for its phones, is working on a bendable version of the glass that could be with us in less than two years. In an interview with Wired (via MacRumors), Corning general manager John Bayne said that the challenge was creating a glass that's thin enough to bend without sacrificing the resilience needed to protect a display.
In 2017 Apple said it was investing $200 million in the company to "support Corning's R&D, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing." Patents filed by Apple suggest that it's already investigating the area, while a report published last year claimed Apple could release a foldable device as early as 2020.
[...] Bayne notes that the company is targeting a "3- to 5-millimeter bend radii" for its 0.1mm thick glass, which could allow a foldable phone to be as thin as 6mm to 10mm with the folding screen wrapped around the outside. For reference, the iPhone XS is 7.7mm thick.
[...] The company already produces the bendable Willow Glass, which can be rolled up like a sheet of paper. Unfortunately, its current manufacturing process makes it impossible for use in phone screens, since it has to be dipped into a salt solution. This would corrode the transistors that would need to be in the glass if it was meant for a display, according to Bayne.
We'll call it... Glastic.
Also at Ars Technica, Engadget, CNBC, and Notebookcheck.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 07 2019, @01:42AM
Will it still be flexible after they laser weld it to stuff? https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-47402068 [bbc.com]