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 krishnoid on Thursday March 07 2019, @02:34AM (1 child)
I've seen videos where you can use the phone's screen to drive a finishing nail ... and a lot of friends who have phones with cracked screens and still buy screen protectors. So is this available in phones or not?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday March 07 2019, @04:03AM
Which version?
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/18/corning-gorilla-glass-6-release.html [cnbc.com]
It's used in the Galaxy S10. But you can still destroy it:
https://bgr.com/2019/03/06/galaxy-s10-plus-drop-test-vs-iphone-xs-max-gorilla-glass-6-cracks/ [bgr.com]
If this new "flexible" version is good enough, it may be used in non-flexible devices. Same with any alternative flexible display materials.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]