Apple Buys Three-Year Supply For Glass Sapphire Display

It has already been reported that one of the two iPhones later in the year may flaunt a 5.5 inch screen. The cover glass of the handset can be strengthened by the thin sapphire laminates that Apple is buying. The company has already invested $500 billion for Arizona sapphire plant, buying high-tech equipment and furnaces. The facility is operated in partnership with GT Advanced.

Both Apple and GT area already in a multi-year agreement and now Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, says that Apple has acquired sapphire screens on a three-year supply in an interview with GigaOM:

Apple just snapped up the entire 3-year supply of the same sapphire display we wanted for the Edge.

Another report estimated the equipment purchases for the Mesa plant of Apple, estimating that 100 million 5-inch sapphire screens should be produced for the next iPhone. Some watchers even purport more.

The South China Morning Post said that both 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch iPhone will use sapphire crystal for protection of the screen.

But Economic News Daily from Taiwan lately said that only the 5.5 inch model will sure improved sapphire screens. They also said that this phablet won’t use iPhone branding.

The story also points to a limited supply at launch.

The sapphire crystal is currently used to protect the Touch ID sensor in the iPhone 5s and the iSight camera lens, but it looks like it will be in other parts of iPhone in the future.