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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Apple supplier Corning is working on flexible glass for foldable displays [theverge.com]

Corning, the glass manufacturer that currently provides Apple, and many other [wikipedia.org] 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 [wired.com] (via MacRumors [macrumors.com]), 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 [theverge.com] in the company to "support Corning's R&D, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing." Patents [theverge.com] filed by Apple suggest that it's already investigating the area, while a report published last year [theverge.com] 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 [arstechnica.com], Engadget [engadget.com], CNBC [cnbc.com], and Notebookcheck [notebookcheck.net].

Original Submission