Apple invests $45 million into supplier of iPhone, iPad 'ceramic shield' screens
The money will be used to develop more technologies to "support durability and long-lasting product life," Apple says.
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The maker of the iPhone 12's ceramic shield screen is getting a huge investment.
Apple on Monday said it's investing $45 million in Corning , which supplies the tech giant with the "ceramic shield" screens used in its iPhone 12 lineup. Corning also creates precision glass for the Apple Watch , iPad and other iPhones. The funding, which comes from Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund, will be used to "expand Corning's manufacturing capacity in the US and drive research and development into innovative new technologies that support durability and long-lasting product life," Apple said in a release.
The iPhone maker has already given $450 million from its $5 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Corning over the last four years. The company says that money is used to support more than 1,000 jobs and to fund research and development of "state-of-the-art glass processes," which led to the creation of the ceramic shield. Apple has said the new screen is "tougher than any smartphone glass" and gets its strength from nano-crystals within the glass matrix that are small enough to make the material transparent. CNET's drop test found the iPhone 12's ceramic shield screen was, in fact, tough to crack.
Corning is also the company behind Gorilla Glass Victus, which protects the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
See also: Apple says iPhone 12's ceramic screen is tougher than glass. Here's why
