AppleInsider Staff
New reports out of the Far East suggest that while Apple is currently trialing iPhone units bearing sapphire-covered displays, the material will make its debut on the so-called "iWatch" rather than on the company's next-generation handset this year.
Price is said to be the deciding factor, as Apple has apparently been unable to devise a way to add sapphire to the iPhone without substantially increasing the device's cost. The rumors cropped up on a number of Chinese websites and were first noted by GforGames.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has reportedly not run into similar issues with the still-unannounced iWatch. The rumors indicate that the wrist-worn device's 2-inch diagonal display will in fact bear a protective sapphire layer, much like the sapphire crystals used in other high-end watches.
Taiwanese media reported late last month that Apple's primary iPhone manufacturing partner, Foxconn, had successfully completed assembly testing of prototype iPhone units with sapphire displays. At the same time, Apple's existing sapphire suppliers were seen making significant investments in equipment and tooling thought to point to a large order from Cupertino.
It was then revealed that Apple had taken delivery of a substantial number of sapphire furnaces and inspection equipment at its new Arizona sapphire manufacturing facility. Some industry analysts speculate that, once fully operational, the plant would have enough capacity to manufacture sapphire display components for as many as 200 million handsets per year.
Apple currently uses sapphire as a lens cover for the iPhone's rear-facing camera and as a protective layer over the iPhone 5s's flagship Touch ID feature.
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Chip Loder
59 Comments
iWatch, iWait, iWant, iWill buy.
In other news, people still have no clue to what Apple is up to.....
I'm gonna go on record and say I'd bet that iPhone 6 [I]will[/I] include a sapphire glass display. You don't spend an initial upfront investment of a half a billion for watch displays. Why? Because the iWatch won't cost $700 a pop, that's why. iWatch and iPhone 6 both will have sapphire glass. And keep in mind, too, that this half a billion investment on Apple's part is just the initial disclosed investment in this technology. They may announce more payments as they are required by law to do so. After all that's the only reason we knew about this investment in the first place. Tim Cook spoke about it after those documents were published and the cat was out of the bag.
Given that if the analyst are even off by a factor of ten on the production capabilities then I don't know that I believe that the next iPhone will not have a sapphire covered display. They are stating that Apple has the capability to make 200 million ~5" handset display covers per year. If they were only doing a watch face then that equates to ~1.2 billion watch faces per year. Now, if they are off by a factor of ten then that equates to ~120 million watch faces per year. That is a ridiculously large number of watches to expect to be sold in their first year of release. My point is that the production capability that Apple is said to have is too large to be for just watch faces.
Makes perfect sense.