

There are only a few players in the tough glass game, the most prominent two named after a massive primate and a pretty gemstone. One is tough, the other is scratch-resistant. Corning, developer of the tough Gorilla Glass, has iterated upon its design a few times, strengthening the glass to survive rigorous scenarios, but rather than just exponentially increase the glass’ toughness, the company aims to throw the scratch-resistance of sapphire glass into the mix. Project Phire is the combination of the two, and Corning promises it’s going to be the best way to protect your device.

You want two things from the display on your mobile device: to remain completely intact when dropped or bumped, and to live a full life without developing visible scratches. While sapphire glass is extremely resistant to scratches, it doesn’t hold up when dropped. Gorilla Glass performs well when dropped, but performs less admirably when you accidentally place your keys in the same pocket as your phone.

iPhone 6 sapphire glass front panel, knife scratch test

iPhone 6 sapphire glass front panel, knife scratch test

Though Gorilla Glass 4, unveiled back in November of last year, proved to be twice as tough as its predecessor, the surface was still susceptible to scratches. Corning did not reveal how it plans to combine Gorilla and sapphire — or even a release date less vague than sometime in 2015 — but the company at least appears very confident that the material does exist, and will hit markets.

Corning’s decision to blend Gorilla Glass and synthetic sapphire is likely due to the scare it had last year when Apple almost switched from using Gorilla Glass in its smartphones to sapphire glass. No one but Apple truly knows why the switch was ultimately aborted, but the public relations-friendly answer is that Apple found sapphire glass to be too reflective. Though the iPhone 6 uses Gorilla Glass for the display, the Touch ID sensor does, in fact, use sapphire glass — maybe as something of a small test run. As to why the whole display doesn’t use sapphire, though, perhaps Apple feels it’s easier to avoid dropping your phone (or to embed it within a thick case) than it is to prevent objects from rubbing up against the display.

For now, we can only imagine the strength and resilience of a sapphire gorilla — and maybe commission an esteemed writer to produce a sequel to The Maltese Falcon, considering Corning is already familiar with the naming convention. If that vague 2015 delivery date holds, it’s possible that the next iPhone will be home to the new glass.

Now read: Your next iPhone might use motors, thrusters to prevent screen-cracking falls