The next iPhone could features a sapphire glass screen
New iPhone 6 rumours have surfaced, with latest reports suggesting the phone’s upcoming sapphire glass screen has cost Apple more than £350 million to develop.
With the Cupertino-based company said to have splashed out more than half a billion dollars on improving its next flagship phone’s screen, reports from the International Business Times have suggested the company has splurged some $578 million (£353m) on speeding up the development of the resilient glass.
Although the near scratch proof sapphire glass is already used on the iPhone 5S to cover both the fingerprint reader incorporating Touch ID home button and camera lens, Apple is said to be planning to use the toughened glass to cover the entire iPhone 6 screen.
In a bid to meet its own iPhone 6 timescales, the manufacturer is said to have poured vast amounts of money into the increased development of sapphire glass.
Described as “virtually scratch free,” sapphire glass is roughly two and half time tougher than the Corning Gorilla Glass coating found on many flagship smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4.
According to latest reports, Apple paid sapphire glass manufacturer GT Advanced Technologies £350m to speed up “the development of its next generation, large capacity ASF furnaces to deliver low cost, high volume manufacturing of sapphire material.”
One of many iPhone 6 rumours currently doing the rounds, it has been repeatedly suggested that the next-gen Apple handset will face another increase in size.
With the iPhone 5 taking things from 3.5-inches to 4-inches, the iPhone 6 will reportedly play host to a larger, 4.7-inch to 5-inch panel as well as the standard improved camera optics and speedier processor bumps.
Next, read all the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 rumours
