Ceramic Shield Won’t Protect the Entire Phone

How many times a day does your iPhone slip out of your fingers and go careening to the floor? Once? Twice? Maybe more if you’re a real butterfingers? If you are one of those people with a cracked screen, you may want to upgrade to the iPhone 12 just so you can get the company’s new Ceramic Shield glass technology. Apple talked about the new glass during the press event, but there is one key point you may have missed — this new super-strong glass is only on half of the phone.

Developed along with Corning, Apple’s new Ceramic Shield glass covers the front display and is stronger than any other smartphone glass on the market. According to Apple, it has four times the drop resistance of the glass it currently uses on its iPhones. Now when you drop your phone, you only have to be slightly worried that the screen will break.

Like previous iPhones, the back of the iPhone 12 also blanketed in a glass layer. Unfortunately, this rear glass is the regular strength glass and not Corning’s extra-strong Ceramic Shield. The take-home message — if you drop your phone, drop it so it lands face down, or better yet, grab a case that’ll protect the back upon impact.