A fresh rumour for the iPhone 6, leaks from Chinese manufacturers are indicating that the new model could have a screen made from super-hard sapphire. Throughout the iPhone's lifespan, a lot has been made about how fragile they can be, with earlier models ending up with shattered screens from a light drop. Apple went some way towards improving this issue with the introduction of Gorilla Glass on the iPhone 4 (a form of tempered glass) that at least prevented it from shattering upon a drop. Sapphire is already used in the iPhone 5S right now, the TouchID fingerprint sensor on the home button features a sapphire top to protect it from scratches and allow for the high resolution sensor to pick up your finger print, but this is a tiny part of the phone (barely a centimetre square) and sapphire is significantly more expensive than glass. The idea of having a screen entirely made of sapphire might sound appealing, after all it is super strong and scratch resistant but the cost would be prohibitive, even at mass production. Considering the iPhone costs over £500 already, a change like this would only serve to bump up the cost of the phone by a large margin. More likely is that Apple are experimenting with the idea and getting their manufacturing partners to make up small batches of sapphire coated screens, but it's unlikely that this will ever trickle down to the main user base.
I am a man of many interests. I am a passionate gamer, running my own YouTube channel (The Gadget Addicts) showing off the best of modern gaming in the form of Let's Play videos.
I am an ardent musician, having been a guitarist for the past 13 years. I am also a massive geek, I adore science fiction and fantasy films and TV shows and am trying to work up the courage to start writing a novel. If I can ever think of a good story to tell...
I live with my wife in the North East of England and own a belligerent little black cat.
