Corning’s new Gorilla Glass SR+ might be headed to an Apple Watch near you

Mostly known for its Gorilla Glass that protects the vast majority of smartphones, Corning announced Gorilla Glass SR+, which is intended for wearables and was labeled as a “groundbreaking innovation.”

Even though the risk of shattering your phone’s display is very real, displays on wearables are more susceptible to receiving nicks and dings simply because you wear them everywhere you go. As a result, your wearable is at greater risk of having a scratched display than your phone is.

That is where Gorilla Glass SR+ hopes to change that fortune, with Corning saying the new glass composite offers up to 70 percent better damage resistance and 25 percent better surface reflection than luxury cover materials. Furthermore, Corning claims that Gorilla Glass SR+ offers better scratch-resistance than both Gorilla Glass 4 and the recently announced Gorilla Glass 5.

Most notably, Gorilla Glass SR+ looks to be almost as resistant to scratches as sapphire glass while fitting that strength in a thinner package and being able to transmit more light through the display and cover glass than the latter. In other words, Corning claims that Gorilla Glass SR+ packs plenty of sapphire’s benefits while including features from Gorilla Glass 4 and 5.

As for when we might expect its implementation, Corning says Gorilla Glass SR+ is commercially available and will make its appearance on products from “leading global brands” sometime before year’s end. One of those brands might be Apple, which uses Ion-X glass for the Apple Watch Sport and sapphire glass for other Apple Watch variants. After all, according to 9to5Mac, Apple and Corning have an agreement that prevents Corning from listing Apple or the iPhone on its website.

As such, it is entirely possible that Apple will use Gorilla Glass SR+ for the Apple Watch’s sequel. Then again, the glass composite will also likely be used in near-future, unannounced Android Wear devices, so keep your fingers crossed.