Apple's Use Of 'Sapphire' in iPhone Camera Lens Questioned in New Tests (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Apple has been using sapphire on its iPhone camera lenses for a few years now since the launch of the iPhone 5S, but it might not be as scratch resistant as you'd expect. A new video raises questions over Apple's use of sapphire in its iPhone camera lens, and includes scratch tests to rate its durability. While Apple claims it uses sapphire crystal in its iPhone lens, tests by YouTuber JerryRigEverything show that Apple could be using a more cost effective sapphire laminate on top of regular glass. JerryRigEverything tested Apple's iPhone lens with an XRF machine and electron microscope, and concluded that Apple doesn't use pure sapphire in its lenses. The underside of the lens contains less sapphire than the exposed part, and a scratching comparison with a Tissot sapphire watch showed that the lens cover will scratch at a level 6 on Mohs Scale of Hardness, compared to level 8 for the Tissot watch.

Comments

People misunderstand "made with sapphire"

[Kichigai Mentat]

No no no no, people are totally misunderstanding what Apple means when they say their stuff is made "with sapphires," not "out of sapphires." Like when I say "I made this with my friend," there's a chunk of sapphire on the factory floor that people work with, like an pet rock.

Re:People misunderstand "made with sapphire"

[Tablizer]

Wednesday Addams: "Are these girl-scout cookies made out of real girl scouts?"

Hard enough?

[Aaden42]

Did pulling it out of my pants a few hundred times a month scratch it? No? Good. Guess it was hard enough.

Oh... And my phone's okay too!

Re:Hard enough?

[KiloByte]

Did pulling it out of my pants a few hundred times a month scratch it?

Try having your keys in that pocket. The reason for screen hardness is not scratching by cloth or by a booger-damp tissue but with the most notorious hard item often carried in pockets. And despite Wikipedia claiming iron having a hardness of 4, steel of 4.5, it is enough to scratch a typical smartphone screen. Thus, a sapphire screen would be a major win -- if it was true.

Re:Hard enough?

[Anonymous Coward]

Keys in pockets don't scratch modern phones. What does is sand. Sand and grit is all over the place - and yes, it gets in your pocket and on your keys. Some of that grit is of a hardness that will scratch the screens. For sure. It shouldn't scratch sapphire - but then this article says the lens isn't actually fully sapphire.

Re:Hard enough?

[morethanapapercert]

Keys aren't commonly made of steel and haven't been made of iron since the abandonment of skeleton keys for general use. Most keys are brass or aluminium with both being ~ a 3 on the Mohs scale. ( I use Mohs here because we're talking about contact with alleged sapphire and gemstones are usually rated on the Mohs scale, not Brinnell, Rockwell or Vickers) Thus a key should just skate across a smoothly polished screen surface if it indeed sapphire. In fact, if there are existing scratches on the screen glass, those scratches should mark the key!

There are two caveats though:

1) This only accounts for the keys themselves, not the spring steel keyring that is almost universally used to organize keys nor any keychains, fobs or charms.

2) There are several aspects lumped together under the term "hardness", scratch resistance, rebound hardness and resistance to deformation under a static load. A materials rating under the Mohs scale doesn't cover all of that, so only gives you one part of the picture. And as far as I know, no general purpose hardness test covers glancing/gouging impacts where the velocity of impact is as an equally important component of the tests. A straw can embed itself in wood if it's going fast enough after all. (velocity of the impacting object IS quite important in armour testing, so those tests are careful to take speed and angle of impact into consideration.

Re:Hard enough?

[lgw]

Keys in pockets don't scratch modern phones. What does is sand. Sand and grit is all over the place - and yes, it gets in your pocket and on your keys. Some of that grit is of a hardness that will scratch the screens. For sure. It shouldn't scratch sapphire - but then this article says the lens isn't actually fully sapphire.

Came here to post this, but let me just quote the AC who got here first. Sand is the killer. Sand easily scratches glass, rarely scratches quartz, and won't scratch topaz or sapphire. That's why sapphire is key: it's sand proof (which makes it nearly everything-proof, for scratching).

Re: Amazing!

[Anonymous Coward]

Sapphire is 9 on Mohs scale. If they measured 6, then it is ordinary lens glass.

Re:Did Apple say it was pure sapphire?

[blane.bramble]

Quite. Welcome to marketing, where the language is both very precise and very loose at the same time.

A point in case, does:

"A first for Company X"

Mean that Company X is the first in the world to do something, or just that this is the first time they have done it, and others may have been doing it for years...

Re:And yet, consumers are silent.

[Shimbo]

Other than perhaps a Kardashian, no one is carrying around diamonds in their pockets to scratch their pseudo-sapphire iPhone lens.

If it is only 6 on the Mohs scale it means that it will be scratched by quartz, so if you have dirt in your pocket it may get scratched.

Sapphire crystal lens cover

[Midnight Thunder]

If you check their website Apple states 'Sapphire crystal lens cover' in the specs of their phones: http://www.apple.com/ca/iphone... , so if you are trying to scratch the underside claiming sapphire, then you are probably doing something wrong?

Is this a non-story or did I miss something?

Re:Sapphire crystal lens cover

[GuB-42]

The problem is that when you try to scratch the front side, the force transfers to the back side and cause a visible and permanent scratch even though the front side stays smooth. It is shown in the video.

Re:Did Apple say it was pure sapphire?

[Grishnakh]

If they're claiming it's sapphire, and there's no sapphire in it, and it scratches just as easily as regular glass, that's called "false advertising".

False advertising regardless

[grimJester]

If they imply it has hardness 9 like sapphire does and it only has 6 that's false advertising. In practice that's the difference between being scratched by sand or not.

Re:Did Apple say it was pure sapphire?

[BosHaus]

If they're claiming it's sapphire, and there's no sapphire in it, and it scratches just as easily as regular glass, that's called "false advertising".

No sapphire in it? Did you watch the video? The show it's 85% Aluminum oxide (sapphire) with a very thin layer of niobium on the interior to improve the refractive index. What the issue is here is the carbon impurities in the sapphire, not that there is no sapphire.

Just a hunch

[DougOtto]

I suspect a lens made entirely of sapphire glass would have pretty shitty optics. Using it as a cover would allow improved scratch protection and retain acceptable optical properties. Not much different than putting a lens protector over a camera lens. What's the problem?

Re:Just a hunch

[sl3xd]

I don't think optics would be the problem: It's impact resistance. While it's great for scratches & abrasions, sapphire is easy to shatter & crack.

When you have a lens that sticks out of the phone, impact resistance is probably something to consider.

Re:Just a hunch

[avandesande]

Not even sure what you are arguing here. If sapphire lenses were so fragile that they weren't worth using, watch makers wouldn't use them. Obviously whatever tradeoff you believe exists are outweighed by the benefits. Another thing that is obvious is that you have never worn a watch... not sure how it compares with a phone but if you are at least moderately active, they take an absolute beating.

Article Update.

[Dishevel]

From the article.

Update October 5th, 1PM ET:
Apple has confirmed to The Verge that the company uses sapphire in its iPhone camera lens. It appears the correct testing conditions weren't adhered to in JerryRigEverything's tests. "Apple confirms the iPhone 7 camera lens is sapphire, and under proper testing conditions achieves the hardness and purity results expected from sapphire," says an Apple spokesperson.

Shit. I like hating Apple too.