The (still) ongoing war between tech giants Apple and Samsung, although not good for the tech world as a whole, is still rather interesting and is leading to many interesting tidbits being uncovered. A deposition from an Apple ex-employee Douglas Satzger has shed light on the fact that Apple initially considered curved glass designs for the iPhone but eventually dropped the idea due to the costs that would be incurred.
The relevant documents were found among the court documents in the Apple vs Samsung battle. Douglas Satzger, who held the positions of Industrial Design creative Lead and Industrial Design Manager at Apple for the period from 1996-2008 had comments telling Samsung’s lawyer of Apple’s interest in making an iPhone with “two pieces of shaped glass”.
Not only was the curved glass design highly stylish but the curve would have likely cut the chance of a device being damaged due to dropping dramatically. It was considered seriously enough for prototypes to have been made as well.
Prototype number 0355 however was eventually rejected because it would’ve been relatively too expensive to manufacture two curvy pieces of toughened glass. In Satzger’s words, ““The technology in shaping the glass, the cost relative to shaping the glass at the time, and some of the design features of this specific shape were not liked.”
Technology and glass quality at the time helped prohibit the idea.
Legal action between the two companies has led to the surfacing of several prototypes and details about how Apple, the immensely secretive company, develops its products. Stay tuned for more!
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