Apple sapphire iPhone patent
Apple’s investment in sapphire glass is well documented, but now leaked patents have suggested that the Cupertino-based company could be about to bestow the iPhone 6 with a sapphire glass display.
With Apple reportedly investing £350 million in the mass production of the resilient glass materials, latest reports have suggested the iPhone 6 could launch with a full sapphire glass display, not simply a sapphire protected Touch ID home button and camera lens as previously thought.
Entitled ‘Sapphire Window’, the Apple patent details how the company intends to grow the hardened material for use on portable electronic devices, explaining how it will harvest the sapphire glass into polished wafers which can then be cut into small, smartphone size windows.
However, due to the elements which give Sapphire glass panels their added reinforcement, the technology cannot be manufactured using traditional glass panel production methods.
According to one of Apple’s patents, the company has revealed that is could potentially use lasers to cut iPhone size sapphire glass panels in a bid to increase yield rates.
With Apple’s Sapphire Window patent having originally been filed back in 2012, the company’s product plans precede details that surfaced earlier this week that Apple has increased its partnership with sapphire manufacturer GT Advanced Technologies.
According to the latest reports, Apple is to increase production through a new US-based manufacturing facility which is expected to begin work next month.
Widely expected to launch this autumn with a new, larger 4.7-inch display, the iPhone 6 will go head-to-head with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S5 for the crown of smartphone supremacy.
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Via: AppleInsider