Sapphire Was Apparently Never In The Cards For The iPhone 6

Prior to the iPhone 6 being released, there were rumors that suggested that Apple could be outfitting the displays with sapphire. This would lend a more premium feel to the device, not to mention help differentiate it from the competition who have tended to rely on Gorilla Glass or a different type of glass.

However the phone launched and Apple mentioned that they’d be using ion-strengthened glass instead. So what gives? Well one analyst had previously suggested that last minute production issues forced Apple to drop sapphire, but now according to a report from Tim Bajarin of Time, it seems that sapphire for the iPhone 6 was never in the cards to begin with.

Bajarin has suggested numerous reasons as to why sapphire would not have been a good idea. One of the reasons is design, which he claims would be thicker than current offerings and would go against Apple’s design principles which is to make devices as thin as possible. He also suggested that cost was another reason why, and according to his research it would have added $100 to the base cost of manufacturing an iPhone.

Other issues such as battery life was a concern as the use of sapphire would require Apple to bump the brightness of the display, thus resulting in lower battery life. There is also the issue of durability as sapphire has been known to shatter. While its surface is hard and resistant to scratches, dropping it would be an entirely different story.

Bajarin’s reasoning is sound and he claims that if you were hoping to see sapphire in 2015’s iPhone, you might want to temper your expectations as well because it seems that apart from being used to cover the camera lens and Touch ID sensor, the use of sapphire in other parts of the phone have yet to be decided.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: iphone 6