Now that the novelty of the iPhone 6s is beginning to wear off, we’re already thinking about what we would like to see from next year’s iPhone 7. One improvement I think almost all users would welcome is a stronger, shatterproof display similar to that on the new Motorola Droid Turbo 2.
The Droid Turbo 2 is proof that smartphone manufacturers can build displays that don’t break. Motorola’s new “ShatterShield” technology comes with four years of coverage against cracks and shattering, and countless drop tests have confirmed that the handset is near-unbreakable.
Motorola made ShatterShield possible by changing the makeup of the Droid Turbo 2’s display.
Unlike every other smartphone display on the market, this one boasts an aluminum chassis for structural integrity, with provides a base for four other layers. One of those is the AMOLED display itself, and another is the dual touch layer.
“In the event of an impact that damages the primary touch-sensitive layer, a second layer takes over to maintain touchscreen performance,” Motorola explains. On top of this sits an interior lens — a highly transparent layer that is essentially just like the cover glass on any other smartphone.
What really makes the Droid Turbo 2 super robust is its second lens — the “exterior protective lens.” Thanks to its proprietary hardcoat, this lens withstands impacts to prevent the layers beneath it from becoming damaged when you drop your device.
If Apple copies anything from rival smartphone makers for the iPhone 7, it should be ShatterShield technology. Although the company claims its latest iPhones are more robust than their predecessors, their displays continue to be a weakness, breaking too easily when dropped.
If you have AppleCare+, Apple will repair broken displays and it won’t cost you too much. But we’d still prefer it if they didn’t break in the first place.
There are, of course, some hurdles Apple would likely have to overcome. A more robust display would almost certainly be thicker than existing iPhone displays, but Apple proved when it introduced 3D Touch this year that it doesn’t mind increasing the iPhone’s size to add new features.
Perhaps a bigger issue would be how a thicker display would impact the 3D Touch pressure sensors; if the additional layers mean the display isn’t as flexible as it was, then the iPhone may struggle to detect deeper presses quite so effectively.
But if anyone can take Motorola’s ShatterShield technology and make it better to eliminate these downfalls, it is surely Apple.
Would you like the iPhone 7’s display to be more robust, and what else is on your wish-list for the next iPhone? Let us know down in the comments.
