Rumor from China: Apple Watch only made of glass?
Ex-Apple design boss Ive is said to have once dreamed of manufacturing fully transparent Apple products.
An Apple Watch and an iPhone: So far, there has been a clear separation between the case and the display.
(Image: Halfpoint / Shutterstock.com)
Apple's former head of design Jonathan "Jony" Ive is said to have once hoped to one day produce an iPhone made entirely of glass. The idea does not seem to have been buried at the manufacturer yet, although the focus is initially on another product: the Apple Watch.
One housing, one touch surface
Apple had already registered the corresponding patents years ago, and now a Chinese leaker claims that Apple is pursuing the plan further. The Instant Digital account on Weibo, which has already been correct in the past, claims that Apple is planning a computer watch with an edge made of glass – that enables touch interactions. Currently, the Apple Watch is always made of a different material, be it aluminum, steel or titanium (and previously also ceramic and gold alloys).
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Instant Digital does not specify where the information comes from. One problem remains durability: the glass would have to be reinforced, similar to what Apple already does with its "Ceramic Shield" on its iPhones. However, computer watches are often exposed to harsh conditions in everyday life – People like to bump their watches on tables or door frames or even drop them when putting them on. There is also the question of how a watch case made purely of glass would be joined together. It would have to consist of parts that would probably be glued together.
Sapphire glass has long been of interest to Apple
Instant Digital gives no indication of when such a product might appear. The next Apple Watch variants are likely to stick to the old design. Apple recently increased the screen size of the Series 10, so that the large version of the Watch reaches that of the Ultra. Nothing has changed in the form factor itself for years, Apple is mainly optimizing. A new glass case would fit in quite well here, especially as the design itself would not require any major changes.
It would also be interesting to see how the different components behave. Buttons and digital crowns might also have to be made of glass and the question remains as to whether antennas and sensors will interact better or worse with the new material. Apple had been experimenting with sapphire glass for a long time and wanted to acquire many crystals.
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