With Antennagate over, is Glassgate next for the iPhone 4?

GDGT ^ | 10/08/2010 | "Ryan"

[Swordmaker]

One thing I’d be interested in knowing is if this glass is being made by Corning in China. If it is, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the problem with the glass is from manufacturing defects and not from user scratches. The glass might be failing when an initial flaw is present and someone puts the case on causing a load that raises the stress intensity factor at the crack above the fracture toughness of the glass. If so, my advice to Apple would be to have the glass made in Korea, Japan or the US and ship it to China for assembly.

From what I can find out Corning makes Gorilla Glass under strict quality control. There seem to be very few complaints about such issues among the users and the articles evidence, I.e. , the non availability of slide in cases in the Apple stores is bogus, makes the story FUD.

[Swordmaker]

Those cases are an extremely snug fit, and on the older phones a grain of sand or grit could indeed scratch the back; I had a couple of deep gouges on the back of my 3G. The basic problem rings true, and it makes sense that Apple would at least ask questions about it — but I don’t know enough about the materials science to know how great the risk is, or whether a scored glass back would be more prone to breaking.

But Gorilla Glass is 20 times more resistant to scratching than plastic... I was looking for the Incase battery case for the iPhone4 when I was in the Apple store. They didn't have that but there were two Incase 4 slide in cases on the display.

[ReignOfError]

I’m aware of MacMall and some of the other Mac retailers. The only reason I mentioned the Apple store is as a possible data point in support of the article. The Incase Slider for iPhone 4 exists, and is available other places. Apple has a relationship with Incase, and carries the slider case for the 3GS. That suggests — but is, of course, far from conclusive — that for some reason, possibly the one cited in the article, they don’t like slider cases for the 4.

The main reason I checked store.apple.com is that if they *did* carry the slider case, it would be a pretty strong point in debunking the article.

[ReignOfError]

From what I could find online, Gorilla Glass is about a 7 on the Mohs scale. Quartz, a common component in sand, is also a 7. Of course, the Mohs scale is a pretty crude instrument, but I wouldn’t discount the possibility of scratching.

On the other hand, Gorilla Glass is also specifically designed so that shallow scratches don’t weaken its structural integrity. The shattering thing sounds like FUD, especially with no actual occurrences cited out of however million units sold.

BTW, in looking around at cases, I found the page for the Mophie battery case for iPhone 4 (http://www.mophie.com/mophie-juice-pack-air-iPhone-4-battery-case-p/1145_jpaxp4.htm). It looks like a really nice design.

[Swordmaker]

The main reason I checked store.apple.com is that if they *did* carry the slider case, it would be a pretty strong point in debunking the article.

IIRC, two of the six third party case models that Apple was offering for the free case program were slide in cases. The lack of one or two models on the online store is hardly probative.

[Swordmaker]

BTW, in looking around at cases, I found the page for the Mophie battery case for iPhone 4 (http://www.mophie.com/mophie-juice-pack-air-iPhone-4-battery-case-p/1145_jpaxp4.htm). It looks like a really

My buddy had the Mophie case for his 3Gs while I had the Incase battery pack case for mine. We both agreed the Iincase was the better, more protective case design while the Mophie had slightly more battery and time capacity. Price wise, the Incase was half the price of the Mophie.

[BunnySlippers]

I’ve used the iPhone 4 for a while, and even managed to drop it from about 3/4th of a foot from the floor.

I was cooking in the kitchen and listening to audiobooks with my ear buds on. It slid off the counter and onto the slate floor.

I like my iPhone without a case so it was not protected but it wasn't hurt. I wouldn't want to try it again though.

[ReignOfError]

We might be using different definitions of "slide-in." The definition I'm using -- and I believe Gizmodo was using -- is a case in two parts that slide onto the top and bottom of the device. This is distinct from a snap-on case.

Apple has pulled its page when the free case program ended, but slashdot has a review of the case options up. No slide-on cases there.