14 DAY TRIAL // Apple partner GT Advanced has acquired over 500 sapphire furnaces and associated hardware and is waiting for a secondary shipment of around 400 extra machines for its Arizona factory.
The reason? To create hard, durable “screens for smartphones and mobile devices,” according to the documentation accompanying the shipment.
Apple is known to have contracted GT Advanced for a major gig, which pretty much confirms the company’s plans to equip the iPhone 6 with sapphire screens (maybe even the much-rumored iWatch).
The information comes from analyst Matt Margolis, who leaked the documents to 9to5mac. According to the papers, there will be enough sapphire produced for 100-200 million 5-inch devices.
“GT is partnering with Intego GmbH to develop a series of automated sapphire inspection tools that will increase the yield of high quality sapphire material from each boule and ensure that only high quality material enters the value stream,” Margolis said.