Stunning iPhone 6 display result of improved glass bonding

By Chuong H Nguyen
last updated

What makes the iPhone 6's display striking is that Apple has improved the application for bonding the glass to the display from the last generation iPhone 5s. The latest report examines the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6 displays under a microscope and finds that the iPhone 6 looks more pleasing because the display is closer to the glass. In turn, this results in a screen that's more vibrant with deeper blacks and better contrast.

According to retinal neuroscientist Bryan Jones:

So, why does this display look so good? It turns out that what is different, like the iPhone 5 vs. the iPhone 4 is the proximity of the pixels to the glass in the iPhone 6 compared with the iPhone 5. With the iPhone 6, the pixels appear to be almost one with the glass. When the iPhone 5 came out, Apple bonded the display to the glass in an effort to get the pixels closer to the surface and Apple has appeared to make the pixels in the 6 even closer still.

Because of this change, the iPhone 6's display produces a better visual experience. Of note is that contrast is higher, colors are more vibrant, and blacks are deeper:

Some of what we are seeing with the iPhone 6 may be a polarizing filter underneath the glass, but even so, the glass appears thinner and required less focus distance adjustment to get from the surface of the glass to the pixel on another microscope. I don't know what that precise distance is in microns between the surface of the glass and the pixels, but it was a shorter distance as judged by rotation of the focus knob in the iPhone 6 vs. the iPhone 5. What this accomplishes is making the display appear to be higher resolution. The blacks are blacker, contrast is higher and colors are more vibrant, even with the same OS.

Jones noted that Apple had changed the subpixel geometry in the iPhone 6 display as well, something that we had previously recognized in our review on iMore. Here is what we wrote:

With the iPhone 6, Apple is using dual-domain (DD-IPS) panels. DD-IPS skews the pixels, essentially slanting one column down and next on up. This helps compensate for uneven lighting and color distortion, providing for even wider viewing angles and a better contrast ratio, typically 1400:1. That's compared to 800:1 on the iPhone 5s.

Source: Bryan Jones

29 Comments
  • One MORE reason to abandon Twitter. (And save a lot of my scant social time.) Sent from the iMore App
  • Yah. Wait.....what?!
  • What you talking about Willis??? Wrong article, look above this article... Posted via the iMore App for Android
  • Hahaha muppet.
  • if you think the iphone6 display is nice. you really should check out the screen on the note4. it is by far a better screen. higher resolution, way blacker blacks and consumes much less battery. now the iphone6 screen is no slouch but it ani't better than the note4
  • It is a very nice screen on the note... Posted via the iMore App for Android
  • There is absolutely no way the Note 4's screen uses less power than the iPhone 6. If you dropped the resolution down to the iPhone 6's... then maybe. But not in its current state.
  • Apple does it again! Sent from the iMore App
  • While the Samsung Note 4 & 5 has a really nice display it isn't as good as the iPhone 6. And if you haven't heard, the new OS Lollipop turned out to be a big disaster. So glad I bought the iPhone 6. Even with it's bugs it's so much better IN EVERY WAY. Sent from the iMore App
  • Did it really turn out to be a disaster? Please explain I'm very curious :) Magenta is the new Yellow
  • It's as much of a disaster as the new Note 5 he's talking about in his post. Think about that. And this "disaster" is coming from a person that lived with the iOS 8 rollout. Which was crap and we all know it. Posted from the amazing whatever device I can afford because I'm a broke college kid.
  • Too bad the screen scratches very easily. The ion bond is eh and should withstand up to a knife. I don't believe apple used gorilla glass this time around..... My glass scratched 1st week
  • Sorry to hear you couldn't afford a screen protector. Sent from the iMore App
  • You shouldn't need one to a point. These devices are going to be in pockets with keys and grit. Part of keeping it scratchfree is on the manufacturer. Buuuuut, my (now ex) girlfriend's 6+ is in good shape and that thing dances around inside a purse all day. Maybe his just had some bad luck with a bit of grit in his pocket. And he should invest in a good glass screen protector. We all should. Phones should come with the damn things. Posted from the amazing whatever device I can afford because I'm a broke college kid.
  • Mine was on a desk and I picked it up and it was scratched because I slid it over a bit
  • Excuse me Ray. I have a screen protecter sitting in a box... I actually have two screen protectors sitting in boxes..
    But some of us actually appreciate oem glass feel and don't like to throw bs 3rd party on a product..
    I've had an iPhone since the 1st and never had any scratches that I did see on the first week with the iPhone 6.
  • Try using your knife for cutting Steak instead. Sent from the iMore App
  • Wait, I'm not supposed to use a knife on phones? I've been doing this wrong my whole life :'(
    /s Posted from the amazing whatever device I can afford because I'm a broke college kid.
  • Lmao. At least I have a sense of comprehension... I never said I'm using a knife on the device. I would cry. I said ion bonded glass is suppose with stand up to a knifes damage
  • It's called research buddy
  • Where the heck are the pictures of these screens under the microscope? Good grief.
  • I've looked at both under a microscope actually, I got bored in Biology lab last week. This adds nothing to the discussion. I don't even know why I said it. But it was fun to do, I also looked at a Note 4 under a scope too. And a z30. Guess which phone was mine? (Hint, it's the cheapest one) OH, the iPhone do look sorta kinda cool under the scope, but I still would choose the Note 4 screen over them. The 720p still looks like 720p, the 1080p still looks like 1080p. The blacks are deeper and the colors more colorful or whatever only applies in comparison to the previous iPhones. But the fact that I tend to use AMOLED screens probably warps my judgement.
  • If you weren't such a broke college kid like you said, you might be able to afford a better microscope. Sent from the iMore App
  • I was using the University's lab microscopes. The ones they used to do research before they upgraded this year. So tell me again how the microscope is bad? Posted from the amazing whatever device I can afford because I'm a broke college kid.
  • Come on Rick take a chill pill.
    You stated above that it’s so much better in “EVERY WAY”. You must know that partly, that is down to opinion and some of the facts suggest otherwise.
    Don’t post such BS and you won’t be called out.
  • To my experience, the 1080p doesn't look different than the one in iPhone 6. And yes I have "perfect " vision atm. Sent from the iMore App
  • I absolutely adore the new display on the iPhone 6 plus. Its gorgeous!!! Sent from the iMore App
  • Does the iP6 display match that of Lumia 1520? Of course, the Lumia is a year old device, but still has the best screen I have ever seen. Unfortunately, iP 5s and 5 and 5c had displays that were a couple of years behind the competition in quality, so history does not bode well here for Apple -- hence my scepticism.
  • It's really kind of crappy to have a title that says under the microscope, then have the article talk about looking at the screen under a microscope, and then NOT have a freakin picture of the screen under the microscope!