Apple's Initial Sapphire Production to Target iWatch, Not iPhone 6?Evidence has made clear that Apple is
investing heavily in sapphire for its future products with the company working with partner GT Advanced Technologies to start production of the material in a new
Arizona plant. Earlier reports suggested the sapphire is likely for the next-generation iPhone, but
G 4 Games points to new reports from Asian supply chain sources speaking to
MyDrivers [
Google Translate] and
PCPOP [
Google Translate] claiming the iWatch will be the first Apple device to be equipped with the scratch-resistant material.
<center>
Furnaces for sapphire glass production</center>
According to the reports, the biggest factor in using sapphire for the iWatch and not the next iPhone is cost, with the price of sapphire driving up the retail price tag of the iPhone. A price increase could be detrimental to Apple as the iPhone already has a premium price tag.
According to Chinese media sources (which are citing “Taiwan supply chain insiders”), Apple has put a lot of effort into fitting the next iPhone with a sapphire screen. These sources claim that “beta” iPhone units (read: some of the prototypes Apple is currently testing) are already sporting sapphire protected panels, but unfortunately, chances are that they will not make it on the final product.
The problem is not necessarily due to low yield (which still is a problem, at least until Apple’s [
Arizona] plant will be fully operational), but mainly because fitting a sapphire screen on the next iPhone would make its price skyrocket.
Fortunately though, the same sources also say that Apple will manage to fit sapphire screens on the rumored iWatch. The smartwatch is said to feature a 2 inch panel, and evidently, the production costs would be much lower.Though the iWatch would certainly benefit from a sapphire layer to protect its display, the
volume of raw material and equipment Apple is purchasing hints at much bigger plans than a 2-inch watch display. Apple allegedly has ordered enough furnaces to manufacture approximately 200 million 5-inch sapphire displays, a volume which would meet the yearly demand for its iPhone product line. In 2013, Apple sold approximately 150 million iPhones worldwide.
Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories •
Sprint Sells 5.6M Smartphones in Q4 2013, Stops Reporting iPhone Numbers •
'Flappy Bird' Creator: Game Was Pulled Because It Became an 'Addictive Product' •
Famed Documentarian Ken Burns Launches iPad App •
Apple Loses Appeal to Delay E-Books Antitrust Monitorship But Gains Boundaries •
'MOGA Ace Power' iOS 7 Game Controller Sees 20% Price Drop •
Popular Android Theming App Pulled From Google Play Due to Apple Complaint Over iOS 7 Skin •
Shazam Testing Redesigned iOS App Aiming for Deeper User Engagement •
Bitcoin-Stealing Mac OS X Trojan Discovered<img width='1' height='1' src='
http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/35070/f/648327/s/36f8cb90/sc/5/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="
http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.macrumors.com%2F2014%2F02%2F11%2Fsapphire-iwatch-iphone-6%2F&t=Apple%27s+Initial+Sapphire+Production+to+Target+iWatch%2C+Not+iPhone+6%3F" target="_blank"><img src="
http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" />[/url] <a href="
http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.macrumors.com%2F2014%2F02%2F11%2Fsapphire-iwatch-iphone-6%2F&t=Apple%27s+Initial+Sapphire+Production+to+Target+iWatch%2C+Not+iPhone+6%3F" target="_blank"><img src="
http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" />[/url] <a href="
http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.macrumors.com%2F2014%2F02%2F11%2Fsapphire-iwatch-iphone-6%2F&t=Apple%27s+Initial+Sapphire+Production+to+Target+iWatch%2C+Not+iPhone+6%3F" target="_blank"><img src="
http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" />[/url] <a href="
http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.macrumors.com%2F2014%2F02%2F11%2Fsapphire-iwatch-iphone-6%2F&t=Apple%27s+Initial+Sapphire+Production+to+Target+iWatch%2C+Not+iPhone+6%3F" target="_blank"><img src="
http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" />[/url] <a href="
http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.macrumors.com%2F2014%2F02%2F11%2Fsapphire-iwatch-iphone-6%2F&t=Apple%27s+Initial+Sapphire+Production+to+Target+iWatch%2C+Not+iPhone+6%3F" target="_blank"><img src="
http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" />[/url]</td><td valign='middle'></td></tr></table></div>
<img src="[url]http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186530506127/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/36f8cb90/sc/5/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186530506127/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/36f8cb90/sc/5/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186530506127/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/36f8cb90/sc/5/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://da.feedsportal.com/r/186530506127/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/36f8cb90/a2.img" border="0"/>[/url]<img width="1" height="1" src="
http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/186530506127/u/49/f/648327/c/35070/s/36f8cb90/a2t.img" border="0"/><div class="feedflare">
<img src="[url]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MacRumors-Front?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MacRumors-Front?d=6W8y8wAjSf4" border="0"></img>[/url]
<img src="[url]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MacRumors-Front?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img>[/url]
</div><img src="
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MacRumors-Front/~4/Mzd-uhnr1wg" height="1" width="1"/>
Source:
Apple's Initial Sapphire Production to Target iWatch, Not iPhone 6?
