“The iPhone 6 could feature sapphire glass display that doesn’t scratch even if concrete is rubbed on it, as Apple put half a billion dollars on the technology,” Karla Danica Figuerres reports for International Business Times.
“Currently, sapphire glass is already seen on the Touch ID home button and the lens cover of the iPhone 5s, but it is rumoured that the whole display of the much anticipated iPhone 6 will be turned into sapphire glass that can handle a significant amount of abuse,” Figuerres reports. “According to the marketing director at GT Advanced Technology, Jeff Nestel-Patt, the technology is “virtually scratch free.” Sapphire glass is approximately 2.5 times more durable than the famous Corning Gorilla Glass which is utilised in several smartphones in the market today. As a matter of fact, the sapphire glass can simply break pieces of concrete leaving no scratches on it.”
“Apple paid a total of $578 million to GT Advanced Technologies to speed up “the development of its next generation, large capacity ASFs [Advanced Sapphire Furnaces] to deliver low cost, high volume manufacturing of sapphire material,'” Figuerres reports. “This move is meant to keep the costs of the sapphire screen lower which will be allegedly utilised on Apple’s next flagship smartphone – the iPhone 6.”
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