Understanding Gorilla Glass: The Protective Screen Technology Behind Modern Devices
Key Takeaways
- Gorilla Glass is a lightweight, durable screen protection used in millions of smartphones
- Each generation improves scratch resistance, impact protection, and thinness
- Over three billion mobile devices currently use Gorilla Glass technology
Understanding Gorilla Glass: The Protective Screen Technology Behind Modern Devices
Gorilla Glass is the trademarked name for a specialized, high-durability glass developed and produced by Corning. Its combination of lightness, slim profile, and exceptional strength has made it a standard choice for smartphone screens and other consumer electronics.
The journey to creating this resilient material began decades ago. Corning had been conducting experiments with "muscle glass" since the 1950s, initially marketing a version called Chemor for use in automotive, aviation, and pharmaceutical applications. When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs sought a stronger alternative to plastic for the iPhone screen, he approached Corning. At the time, Corning was not prepared for mass production, but Jobs placed an order for a ton of the material. This encouraged Corning to revive their earlier research, ultimately leading to the first use of Gorilla Glass in the original iPhone released in 2007.
Since then, Gorilla Glass has undergone several generations of improvement. Gorilla Glass 2 introduced a design that was 20 percent thinner than the original. Gorilla Glass 3 offered up to three times the scratch resistance of its predecessor, with enhanced protection against deep scratches, and was the first to use atomic-scale modeling in its design. Following Gorilla Glass 3, Corning announced plans to focus on reducing reflectivity and fingerprint smudges, as well as altering surface treatments and finishing methods.
Gorilla Glass 4 maintained the same thickness and scratch resistance properties as its predecessor but shifted focus to impact protection. This generation was engineered to better withstand accidental drops, surviving what Corning describes as 80 percent of 3.3 feet flat drops onto typical surfaces while keeping the phone screen intact. Corning now reports that over three billion mobile devices worldwide are protected by Gorilla Glass technology.
