"The unique nano-etching pattern on the back glass is stored in the secure enclave of the A16 Bionic, so the replacement glass must be paired to the SoC for the phone to securely boot."
You joke, but I've seen phones that bonded the wireless charging coil to the back of the phone, selling the combination as a replacement part. Apple could definitely chip that component if they wanted to.
I tried that, didn't work. They said, "Our engineers have told us you damaged the port, maybe an electricity charge or water got in there". Brand new product, never took a charge.
I resolved it by taking it to a genius bar and they replaced it on the spot (outside the post/repair service). I was incredibly annoyed by the whole experience.
Honestly it'd probably be better if 3rd party offerings were made of plastic. It's be better than the original.
Glass is such a stupid material for a phone. It makes the device you're supposed to hold slippery AND fragile. But we've somehow ended up in this stupid world where phone reviewers have influenced people into thinking they need "premium" feeling devices rather than practical.
Regardless of everything else Nokia's Windows Phone era had some of the best phone bodies. Fun bright colors, basically indestructible, screen proteting lip, and didn't block RF at all. If plastic was re-invented today (i.e. it was the hip new thing) everyone would be using it rather than glass and aluminum shells, which feels "premium" between the time you remove it from the box and put it into a phone case (e.g. 10-minutes of ownership).
"Given its strength, titanium is remarkably light. When compared to steel in a strength-to-weight ratio, titanium is far superior. The metal is as strong as steel but remains 45% lighter. In fact, titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of all known metals".
And if you see the test, the titanium skeleton doesn't break at all on the bending test, it's the glass part that breaks only.
So, if the steel frame wasn't a problem stength wise, the titanium should be one either is my point.
Because I felt like the parent's comment "The previous iPhone used a steel frame. The titanium makes it lighter, not stronger" was about how titanium is at fault here (implied: weaker, not just "not stronger").
Think about it for a sec. Steel or aluminium is going to yield a hell of a lot quicker than titanium. If you try to bend a phone those materials are going to yield before the glass. All the energy is going to break the frame then the adhesive of the glass from the frame.
Titanium frame? Glass will yield before the frame. There's no strain relief that the frame provides by sacrificing itself. It'll withstand more force but the glass now has the lowest strength.
That's a worthless video. He's replacing a perfectly fine undamaged glass, not a broken one.
Check out JerryrigEverything's video where he tries to replace a cracked back glass and it goes horribly wrong[1] with the thing shattering and needed to be yanked out in tiny sticky pieces.
IMHO, having the back of your phone made of glass shards is insanely stupid repair cash-grab design, when we have so many durable plastic polymers to choose from. They even make the Glock handgun out of bloody plastic.
I'd love to see something more scientific with a pressure gauge. I think 'bendgate' was the iPhone 6+, so flexing large phones and causing cracked glass and screens is nothing new.
Im noticing quite a bit lately - having again cracked my own phone recently - that people seem to have just stopped replacing their still functional yet cracked phones. My rationale is simple, I cracked the last one and the one before that and I'll crack the replacement too. This one works fine and Im just not going to worry about it. It seems I may not be the only one thinking like this. iPhones break too easily, thats all there is to it.
The X had a cracked screen for a couple years now. It's still waterproof (at least under the sink, I haven't submerged it for longer than that) and the crack didn't really bother me much so I never replaced it.
The division between “glass fans” and “glass foes” is very interesting though. If you read the comments on HN it would look like glass is one of the worst choices for such a device because it cracks easily. But the comments on the original Ars article on a cursory read are leaning very heavily towards glass being the best choice because it doesn’t scratch easily.
When even ostensibly tech inclined people can’t agree what’s more important under the inevitable phone case, unscratched glass or uncracked glass, I can understand why Apple goes for the option that might provide a notable revenue source - repairs.
How many people actually use a 'naked' iPhone, I wonder?
A case of some kind is almost mandatory, not just for scratch/drop protection, but to add some grip, and so it can lie flat and not rest on the sticky-out cameras.
Been running caseless for the past 4-5 years and it’s not been an issue, even with the larger models in my decidedly average sized hands.
In my case at least it’s been a matter of making a habit of paying attention to grip so it happens subconsciously (no mental effort) and favoring pockets where risk of falling out is nearly nonexistent (e.g. front jeans pocket instead of hoodie front pocket).
It’s been nice to not have to deal with the bulk added by even thin and light cases.
Glass is a pretty solid building material for phones. You have to pick a good hardness for your use case, though. The harder the glass, the easier it cracks, but the harder it is to scratch the phone.
In my opinion, cracks are worse than scratches, because scratches don't compromise any water resistant properties on your phone. On the other hand, customers the super expensive poser versions of the iPhone probably care more about the looks than I do.
A scratch is at most an eyesore. A crack is at least an eyesore. Most people I know have their phones permanently in a case and half also have a glass screen protector. Together they’re guaranteed to protect from scratches but still not from cracks.
Thinking of the impact and likelihood of either, in the real life usage as described above, I would have imagined people focused more on impact resistance rather than hardness. Was still surprised to read the comments on the original Ars article. If people who understand tech better than the average put that much wight into aesthetics, why would any of the majority of regular buyers think past “glass must be premium and good”?
I don't think this has much to do with tech at all. This is a combination of design and materials science, with a bit of product development sprinkled in.
You can design CPUs all you want, or write kernels for Mars rovers in your spare time, your opinions on what should be on the back of a phone are no more or less valid than the average consumer.
In the end, someone with more experience in this field weighed different options, and came to the decision to use this type of glass for this phone. My phone has a glass back as well and honestly I don't really care either way. I haven't cracked it by accident, but perhaps my phone is less hard than the new iPhone?
I do prefer the feel of glass or ceramic over the feel of most phone plastics, though. The Oneplus One did something special with their plastic back which I appreciated, but the bendable plastic of previous phones felt a lot more like cheap, disposable devices. Other people swear by their plastics and power to them, it's just a matter of opinion anyway. Plastics have the same crack-versus-scratch problem when it comes to design, most plastics are just optimised to scratch much quicker so they don't crack.
FTA: “In addition to lowering Apple's official repair prices, the repairability improvements should also lower cost […] for people who buy their own parts through Apple's Self Service Repair Store”
If (and that seems likely) the price drop for repairs is because of easier access (= fewer hours billed, higher success rate of repairs), I don’t see how that would make parts cheaper.
Their only other real option is plastic (because of the wireless charging, and to a lesser extent blocking cellular/wifi signals) since metal can't really be used. Glass feels better, feels more premium, and so that's what they use.
How exactly would that work? Aren't the wireless chargers designed to work around an air core, and changing the core type would make them non functional?
Compared to plastic, glass feels better in your hand. You can feel the stiffness and thermal conductivity of glass.
The surface is more durable against minor wear, scratches and dirt. After a year it still will feel new, whereas a plastic one will be worn and scuffed.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 357 ms ] threadI resolved it by taking it to a genius bar and they replaced it on the spot (outside the post/repair service). I was incredibly annoyed by the whole experience.
Glass is such a stupid material for a phone. It makes the device you're supposed to hold slippery AND fragile. But we've somehow ended up in this stupid world where phone reviewers have influenced people into thinking they need "premium" feeling devices rather than practical.
$199 for just glass is truly a lot.
"Given its strength, titanium is remarkably light. When compared to steel in a strength-to-weight ratio, titanium is far superior. The metal is as strong as steel but remains 45% lighter. In fact, titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of all known metals".
And if you see the test, the titanium skeleton doesn't break at all on the bending test, it's the glass part that breaks only.
> The previous iPhone used a steel frame. The titanium makes it lighter, not stronger.
The content you quoted:
> “The metal [Titanium] is as strong as steel but remains 45% lighter.”
So, if the steel frame wasn't a problem stength wise, the titanium should be one either is my point.
Because I felt like the parent's comment "The previous iPhone used a steel frame. The titanium makes it lighter, not stronger" was about how titanium is at fault here (implied: weaker, not just "not stronger").
Titanium frame? Glass will yield before the frame. There's no strain relief that the frame provides by sacrificing itself. It'll withstand more force but the glass now has the lowest strength.
https://youtu.be/IS0SItAzEXg?t=437
Titanium is not stronger or stiffer than steel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbRKQ0OjQeE
Check out JerryrigEverything's video where he tries to replace a cracked back glass and it goes horribly wrong[1] with the thing shattering and needed to be yanked out in tiny sticky pieces.
IMHO, having the back of your phone made of glass shards is insanely stupid repair cash-grab design, when we have so many durable plastic polymers to choose from. They even make the Glock handgun out of bloody plastic.
https://youtu.be/S_W73ouKtjU?si=V06NCNiGzMKmr1_l&t=375
https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/23/iphone-15-pro-max-back-glass-...
The X had a cracked screen for a couple years now. It's still waterproof (at least under the sink, I haven't submerged it for longer than that) and the crack didn't really bother me much so I never replaced it.
Especially if you already use a case, a shattered back is just a non issue (mine left glass shards around for a bit).
When even ostensibly tech inclined people can’t agree what’s more important under the inevitable phone case, unscratched glass or uncracked glass, I can understand why Apple goes for the option that might provide a notable revenue source - repairs.
A case of some kind is almost mandatory, not just for scratch/drop protection, but to add some grip, and so it can lie flat and not rest on the sticky-out cameras.
In my case at least it’s been a matter of making a habit of paying attention to grip so it happens subconsciously (no mental effort) and favoring pockets where risk of falling out is nearly nonexistent (e.g. front jeans pocket instead of hoodie front pocket).
It’s been nice to not have to deal with the bulk added by even thin and light cases.
In my opinion, cracks are worse than scratches, because scratches don't compromise any water resistant properties on your phone. On the other hand, customers the super expensive poser versions of the iPhone probably care more about the looks than I do.
Thinking of the impact and likelihood of either, in the real life usage as described above, I would have imagined people focused more on impact resistance rather than hardness. Was still surprised to read the comments on the original Ars article. If people who understand tech better than the average put that much wight into aesthetics, why would any of the majority of regular buyers think past “glass must be premium and good”?
You can design CPUs all you want, or write kernels for Mars rovers in your spare time, your opinions on what should be on the back of a phone are no more or less valid than the average consumer.
In the end, someone with more experience in this field weighed different options, and came to the decision to use this type of glass for this phone. My phone has a glass back as well and honestly I don't really care either way. I haven't cracked it by accident, but perhaps my phone is less hard than the new iPhone?
I do prefer the feel of glass or ceramic over the feel of most phone plastics, though. The Oneplus One did something special with their plastic back which I appreciated, but the bendable plastic of previous phones felt a lot more like cheap, disposable devices. Other people swear by their plastics and power to them, it's just a matter of opinion anyway. Plastics have the same crack-versus-scratch problem when it comes to design, most plastics are just optimised to scratch much quicker so they don't crack.
If (and that seems likely) the price drop for repairs is because of easier access (= fewer hours billed, higher success rate of repairs), I don’t see how that would make parts cheaper.
(I'm still using an original iphone SE, so I'm not very up-to-date on newer iphone technology)
I'm on the SE2 so I'm a little ahead of you.
Compared to plastic, glass feels better in your hand. You can feel the stiffness and thermal conductivity of glass.
The surface is more durable against minor wear, scratches and dirt. After a year it still will feel new, whereas a plastic one will be worn and scuffed.