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Apple's Arizona Sapphire Facility 'Commencing the Transition to Volume Production'

rdlink said:
I'm almost thinking that this indicates no sapphire on the iPhone 6, and that the sapphire is being manufactured for a later product. If they are still ramping up production how can they be churning out enough for phones that are rumored to be in production already?
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I thought that as well.
 
Flying Wall E said:
Thinking like that you'll keep being "nobody", as you say, for a while.

Having knowledge on any matter is vital to form any sort of informed opinion before sugesting something like "Apple should branch out and add a "bank-like" operation". I don't even know what to say to that... Your post left me at a loss for words. There as so many reasons and arguments that should have crossed your mind and prevented even the concept of that idea from ever forming... I was already tired, it was a long day, now I'm exhausted. I think the feeling is incredulity. Well have a nice evening or whatever is more appropriate accordingly to your time zone.
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What the ****?

Let's ignore 800 million credit cards, money in excess, innovation and secure authentication methods that are way more convenient than anything else out there, how smartphones are evolving, similar apps that manage just about everything (health, home automation, passport (is that the name of that app?), etc.

Yes, I don't know what crossed my mind.

Let's all just keep paying those transactions to Visa and thank them and national banks for the good they do for humanity.
 
Michael Scrip said:
Is sapphire one of those things that Apple just happened to bring to market before everyone else could? Was Apple's timing just a coincidence?
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It's understood that GT has a new manufacturing process that allows for thinner, cheaper sapphire screens to be made. Prior to this it was estimated that sapphire screens would cost $30 compared to a typical $3 for a Gorilla Glass screen, making the advantage of increased scratch resistance less attractive.

As of yet no one outside of the process knows the cost what the purported sapphire screens will cost under the new process or even if they are for the iPhone 6.
 
pedromcm.pm said:
Oh, they will, just like with touchscreens.

"it was obvious"
"they tried to keep the tech for themselves."
"patented Saphire. lol"

Let's ignore how we own the modern touchscreen paradigm to Apple ALONE. If it wasn't for them, people would still be using Blackberry Bold.
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Yep Apple bought the company most known for Touch ID development and took a somewhat flawed tech, sunk millions into perfecting it and now own the market on "working" Touch ID. They will do the same with sapphire glass. Apple is good at making something better.
 
DoubleU said:
It's understood that GT has a new manufacturing process that allows for thinner, cheaper sapphire screens to be made. Prior to this it was estimated that sapphire screens would cost $30 compared to a typical $3 for a Gorilla Glass screen, making the advantage of increased scratch resistance less attractive.

As of yet no one outside of the process knows the cost what the purported sapphire screens will cost under the new process or even if they are for the iPhone 6.
Click to expand...

Ah... so GT has the process and Apple has them locked in.
 
pedromcm.pm said:
What the ****?

Let's ignore 800 million credit cards, money in excess, innovation and secure authentication methods that are way more convenient than anything else out there, how smartphones are evolving, similar apps that manage just about everything (health, home automation, passport (is that the name of that app?), etc.

Yes, I don't know what crossed my mind.

Let's all just keep paying those transactions to Visa and thank them and national banks for the good they do for humanity.
Click to expand...

There is not such a thing as 800 million users. If you are from the US maybe you don't know this, but outside the US a lot of people have 2 accounts, one with their real addresses in their countries and other with a fake address (from a hotel, for example) in the US so they can download contents and use services which are not available in their countries.
 
What a funny world we live in. Huge investment in breakthrough materials science technology: tens of millions of dollars. Purchase of music streaming app and some guys with industry contacts: billions of dollars. Yeah yeah, I know, it's about growth potential, but still.
 
rdlink said:
I'm almost thinking that this indicates no sapphire on the iPhone 6, and that the sapphire is being manufactured for a later product. If they are still ramping up production how can they be churning out enough for phones that are rumored to be in production already?
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Not really. It just means that it is just now reaching peak production. They would have been making screens for the iPhone 6 since it first opened in April time. Since they are set to receive their final payment in October then it's safe to suggest that they have behind to ship on their orders this receiving earlier payments and that they will have completed their initial target of iPhone 6 screens in October.
 
If GT Advanced is only just now beginning volume production of sapphire glass, that means no 2014 iPhones will have an SG display.

And no offense to blithering idiots, but it should be obvious to even the most thick headed that only the wearable iWatch thingy has a realistic shot at having a sapphire display (if the rumors are true that they will be delayed until late this year).

Sorree for being a grouch. I'm suffering from rumor fatigue.
 
rdlink said:
I'm almost thinking that this indicates no sapphire on the iPhone 6, and that the sapphire is being manufactured for a later product. If they are still ramping up production how can they be churning out enough for phones that are rumored to be in production already?
Click to expand...

I actually interpreted it to mean the opposite, that the sapphire was being produced in time for something being released in ~8 weeks (4.7-inch iPhone). Doubt they would risk a manufacturing leak this early if it was destined for something not debuting until November or January. And presumably a screen cover doesn't hold up production of processors and other internals.
 
zippyzoom said:
GTAT in the green AH :D Shorties will be forced to cover tomorrow AM
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I had to sell some apple stock to buy this today....

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rdlink said:
I'm almost thinking that this indicates no sapphire on the iPhone 6, and that the sapphire is being manufactured for a later product. If they are still ramping up production how can they be churning out enough for phones that are rumored to be in production already?
Click to expand...

Its possible and would make a perfect "S"(sapphire) for next years model. However, Corning (gorilla glass), has really been on the the defensive over the last 7 months or so. Its pretty clear to me that Apple didnt put an order in...
 
Rolex, omega, and hundreds of other watchmakers were ahead of apple with sapphire watchfaces. Apple is many decades behind. Apple is better at sales than innovation.
 
Maybe sapphire is not meant for screens. Apple might be planning to use it for internal camera lens to further thin down the module. Glass lenses are always thinner than plastic ones.
 
Michael Scrip said:
Just curious... do any other mobile device manufacturers use sapphire in their products?

Apple is already using sapphire in the camera cover and the TouchID cover... but they're clearly getting ready for something bigger.

It doesn't seem like anyone else has even considered it.

But if sapphire does become prevalent across the industry... I wonder if people will simply say it was just "natural progression" and forget about Apple's huge initial investment.

Apple is rarely first with anything... but they do have some great ideas. Sometimes Apple doesn't get the credit they deserve when they try something new... instead people say "it would have happened eventually"

Is sapphire one of those things that Apple just happened to bring to market before everyone else could? Was Apple's timing just a coincidence?
Click to expand...


www.gsmarena.com/kyocera_brigadier_rocks_a_sapphire_screen_before_the_iphone_6-news-9200.php

Sapphire screens are not new by any means, Apple will be the first to do it on a large scale though.
 
It's sapphire, not saphire. I even have to fix it to spell it wrong because autocorrect fixes it first.

Problem with iOS is that while Apple innovates hardware every 2 generations, the innovation on iOS is baby steps. iOS 7 was a new skin, but not all that exciting. iOS 8 is more like a 7.5 than a generational leap. iOS 6 was suppose to introduce something fairly simply like autocorrect for external bluetooth keyboards. If I pair a keyboard to an iPad, I want it to benefit from the same autocorrect features that the onscreen keyboard does.

So iOS doesn't really innovate at the rate it could. Why? Well, because there is no need to. Android comes along with its base of users and each iteration adds something new, or maybe a particular handset like a HTC or a Galaxy has a few extra features baked into it. But adding cool features to Android is like putting cake frosting on dog feces. You still have excrement underneath it all. I have tried using Android devices. And it is sad, simply sad. But the truth is that iOS hasn't done anything truly remarkable for several generations.
 
pedromcm.pm said:
I find those haters that praise companies like Samsung and attack Apple at every opportunity, and trolls that are so blind to their devotions that they go to the extent to suggest that Apple is in trouble/Apple is never wrong/Android and Windows are better.

I just found it laughable.

However, I believe that people (and the press, shareholders, etc.) should pressure Apple to do more stuff like this.

Basically, with few hundred million dollars, they cornered the Saphire market and will only profit directly (their products) or indirectly (selling Saphire to others).

Why isn't Apple doing the same with Tesla's Gigafactory? Why isn't Apple investing in "power" (general resources, green energy, sell it)? Heck, not even a bank-like operation with so many cash?

Visa would quickly **** their pants.

If every initiative went wrong, Apple would recover in 1 month, while getting a lot of potential extra billion dollars each quarter and not depending as much on hardware sales.

Then again, what do I know? I'm nobody. Yet. :)
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Apple does not want to do a Samsung or Walmart. And be masters of none. Apple is always one really bad product away from that product line tanking. Apple in these terms are a victim on their own success. Apple provide the best and people expect it. Anything less and the customers/markets/etc etc react negatively.

Plus it's a pride thing. Apple pride itself on quality over quantity. Apple are showing signs of this weakening though with too many SKUs but for the time being it's not too bad.

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roland.g said:
But the truth is that iOS hasn't done anything truly remarkable for several generations.
Click to expand...

That's not the truth. iOS7 is the truth. It's quite amazing and remarkable. What they did with it in the short timeframe is amazing. Sure iOS8 is just an iOS7 improvement but that's just expected. It'll make iOS really good and allow for all the fixes they didn't have time to do before.
 
Volume production soon?

I thought they were producing the Iphone 6 now. I think this kind of means that the Iphone 6 ( 4.7 ) won't have sapphire.
 
Where APPLE is getting its tech for the iWATCH ...

Flexible graphene battery tech, YOU can even buy this stuff yourself ...
http://www.vorbeck.com/products/vor-flex

... and ...

Vor-Power™ Flexible Battery Straps
http://store.vorbeck.com/collections/vor-power-flexible-battery-straps

So above is the strap all APPLE needs is a screen, since this strap has the following specs it follows that APPLE would want an equally tough screen to go with it, something like Sapphire :eek: ...

Polymer: Hydrogenated Acrylonitrile Butadiene
Nominal Tensile Strength: 3500 psi
Working Temperature: 0-325+˚F
Durometer (hardness): 90±5 (Shore A)
 
fewlio said:
Rolex, omega, and hundreds of other watchmakers were ahead of apple with sapphire watchfaces. Apple is many decades behind. Apple is better at sales than innovation.
Click to expand...

Rolex, Omega... sell wristwatches. Apple will sell wristcomputers. Apple will innovate at using sapphire on wristcomputers.
 
nando87 said:
There is not such a thing as 800 million users. If you are from the US maybe you don't know this, but outside the US a lot of people have 2 accounts, one with their real addresses in their countries and other with a fake address (from a hotel, for example) in the US so they can download contents and use services which are not available in their countries.
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any proof of this.

people with 2 accounts i wouldn't say would fall in the "a lot" category.

VISA has more than 800 million card holders
 
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