The tests are in and the new iPhone 12’s “ceramic shield” screen appears to be the strongest iPhone screen yet.
While 5G may have received much of the attention, one of the major selling points of the iPhone 12 is the ceramic shield screen, the latest innovation coming out of Corning. Ceramic shield is a combination of glass and ceramics, giving the screen far more strength and resilience than glass alone, and even more than some metals, according to CNET.
CNET put the phone though its standard battery of drop tests, and the new screen passed with flying colors. The screen survived being jostled in a purse and slid across tile. It took rubbing the phone with 80-grit sandpaper to finally scratch it.
The new screen faired even better in drop tests, serving multiple falls from various heights without breaking. Even multiple drops from 9 feet was not enough to break the screen.
The back of the phone is still the old-style glass from the iPhone 11, also from Corning, which did not fair as well as the ceramic shield. Even so, the tests are a good sign for iPhone 12 users looking for extra durability.