Brace yourselves for an all-glass iPhone

Global SourcesUpdated on 2023/12/01

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Brace yourselves for an all-glass iPhone

Apple scored a patent from the USPTO that could soon pave the way for an all-glass structure for mobile electronic devices.

August 04, 2014

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Apple scored a patent from the USPTO that could soon pave the way for an all-glass structure for mobile electronic devices.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded Apple a patent for "Fused glass device housings," describing a process that would create an all-glass structure for a mobile electronics device. This is interesting for a variety of reasons, not least because it suggests that glass material strength, probably supplemented with other materials such as sapphire or laminates, is sufficient to build a robust structure for a future device.

Current iPhones use a “glass sandwich,” a glass front and back with aluminum sides. This patent filing may indicate that Apple could fabricate a “5-sided box” that electronic components could then be slid into, with glass or other materials then used to seal the hole that the electronics were inserted into.

Apple is already expected to use a multilayer glass-Sapphire front and back for the upcoming iPhone that is expected to be released in September.

See a comparison table of iPhone accessory manufacturers on GlobalSources.com

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