There's a Hidden Bar Code on iPhone Screens [Report]

Apple has etched two tiny QR codes into the iPhone's display glass to help it track and reduce defects, according to a new report from The Information.

The site notes that both codes are very small, with one requiring special equipment to see it.

Both codes are tiny—one is the size of a grain of sand and can only be seen with special equipment, while the other, roughly the size of the tip of a crayon, is laser-printed on the reverse side of the glass somewhere along its black border or bezel. The codes are placed on the glass at different stages of manufacturing to help Apple track and reduce defects. They represent the company's obsessive attention to detail in manufacturing devices such as the iPhone, which has helped it squeeze costs in a traditionally low-margin business.


Using the codes, Apple is able to track how many cover glass units are made by its suppliers Lens Technology and Biel Crystal, and how many defective units are being thrown away. Previously, the companies had stymied Apple's efforts to learn the true rate of defects.

After installing millions of dollars worth of laser and scanning equipment, Apple was able calculate that 3 out of 10 cover glass units were being discarded as defective. It then was able to get its suppliers to improve that to just 1 out of 10, saving the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

More details in the full report linked below...

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