A mockup of an iPhone 6 using the new 4.7-inch sapphire crystal screen, next to an iPhone 5S.
News about the iPhone 6's new sapphire crystal screen is coming thick and fast. On Monday we told you how bendable it's going to be. Today we have a video from YouTube user Marques Brownlee putting the screen through an extreme torture test. He bends it to 90 degrees under his shoe, scores it with a knife, and scratches it with keys. The result: no damage.
The glass is "paper thin," Brownlee says, and yet it's nearly indestructible - at least under normal use, like being carried around in your pocket or getting dropped onto the floor from time to time. It's a long way from older iPhone models, where the screen shatters like a windshield in a car crash if it smacks a hard surface.
Additionally, there's hardly any color distortion when you look at the iPhone 6 screen. This means the picture comes in crystal clear - to the point where you could probably see individual hairs on a dog.
Ultimately, what this means for Apple users is that the company appears to be on the verge of solving one of the biggest annoyances for iPhone owners by offering a nearly unbreakable device.
There is only one potential competitive disadvantage: The glass in the video is for a 4.7-inch screen, not a big phablet-sized 5.5-inch screen, like Samsung's Galaxy S5 or Note 3 flagships. So far, we've seen lots of leaked photos and spare parts from the smaller of the two rumored new iPhone 6 models, but much less from the larger format. Apple will need a larger screen to stay competitive with other smartphone makers.
Here are some details from Brownlee's iPhone 6 torture test.
First note how clear the screen is. There is no color distortion when you look through it:
"This thing is paper thin, literally as thin as a sheet of paper," Brownlee says.
You can bend it a little bit, like this. That's way beyond the flexibility required from normal use. But hold on one second ...
Even if you try to snap it at 90 degrees is stays in one piece.
"I dragged the point of the knife around the surface with some serious pressure and again I got no results," Brownlee says.
"There is absolutely no way I can break this display."
"The worst blemish on the surface was actually my fingerprint marks," Brownlee concludes.
"I think this is what they're going to make a big deal about" when the iPhone 6 is launched, Brownlee believes.
Here's Brownlee's full video. He thanks Sonny Dickson, another Apple video blogger, for the parts.