We know that Apple and GT Advanced Technologies have a partnership in which the latter company is expected to supply the Cupertino with a ton of sapphire. It is currently unknown what the sapphire will be used for – some have speculated the iPhone and others have speculated the iWatch, with an earlier report suggesting it would be used for a “secret project”.
Well according to the LinkedIn profile of Paul Matthews (via MacRumors), a former GT product manager, he claims on his profile (which has since been deleted) that he had played a key role in convincing Apple to use sapphire for their displays on mobile devices. “After marketing and selling the ASF [advanced sapphire furnace] into the LED market targeted mobile screen covers as a market for growth, conducted a focused marketing campaign and developed a cost model across the supply chain that has brought sapphire to Apple’s mobile display.”
While Matthews claims might be true, after all both companies do have a working relationship with each other, the recent rumors have been somewhat conflicting. Some reports claim that we will be seeing sapphire in the iPhone 6, while other reports claim that sapphire might not make it into the iPhone 6 this year, while other rumors claim that only the larger iPhone 6 will sport sapphire displays.
His claims could be true in the sense that Apple does have plans for sapphire, but it could also be applicable to future Apple products too and not necessarily the iPhone 6, like the next-gen iPads, for example. Either way we guess we’ll know more come 9th of September, so check back with us then for the details!
Filed in . Read more about Apple Watch and Iphone 6.
