Gorilla Glass SR+ will keep our wearables safe, but will it make Apple Watch 2?

Corning’s new glass is a breakthrough for breakables
16247-original
Wareable is reader-powered. If you click through using links on the site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

They might not be as prone to drops as our smartphones, but wearables are more at risk of scuffs, scrapes and other types of breakage - which is why Corning has just announced its "groundbreaking" new glass, Gorilla Glass SR+.

Corning boasts that SR+ has a scratch resistance "approaching that of alternative luxury cover materials", with 70% more damage resistance against impacts and 25% better surface reflection.

The result is that the new glass should make our future smartwatches more resistant against scrapes and knocks at no expense to the clarity or sensitivity of the display.

The SR+ glass is now commercially available, and Corning says that it's expecting to see it on devices from "leading global brands" this year.

Of course, the question is: which brands?

Essential reading: The best smartwatches

The Apple Watch Series 2 is a big one we're still waiting for this year, but you might recall that Apple uses sapphire in its Apple Watch and Edition model screens. However, on the Sport model it uses Ion-X glass, which is quite similar to Gorilla Glass.

Apple's grand sapphire ambitions were short-lived when it had to close its Arizona sapphire factory, due to problems with partner GT Advanced Technologies being unable to meet deadlines.

It was messy, and sapphire hasn't made its way to the iPhone yet as a result.

But it remains to be seen if Apple will opt for Corning's new offering on the Apple Watch 2, even if just for the Sport model.

Other than Apple, we could see it in the new Samsung Gear S3, which we expect to be revealed at IFA 2016, and then there's that New Balance smartwatch we're still waiting on...

Gorilla Glass SR+ will keep our wearables safe, but will it make Apple Watch 2?




How we test



Hugh Langley

By

Now at Business Insider, Hugh originally joined Wareable from TechRadar where he’d been writing news, features, reviews and just about everything else you can think of for three years.

Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider.

Prior to Wareable, Hugh freelanced while studying, writing about bad indie bands and slightly better movies. He found his way into tech journalism at the beginning of the wearables boom, when everyone was talking about Google Glass and the Oculus Rift was merely a Kickstarter campaign - and has been fascinated ever since.

He’s particularly interested in VR and any fitness tech that will help him (eventually) get back into shape. Hugh has also written for T3, Wired, Total Film, Little White Lies and China Daily.


Related stories