Rising Sapphire Display Cost May Limit Production of 5.5-Inch iPhone 6

[AppleScruff1]

So yes manufacturing issues and not own mistakes.
So out there in a real world you will find from 50 people 20 with scratch and probably none with broken screen.
In my last 4 years i saw only 2 broken phones and i asked that persons how can they use those phones like that..but the answer always was "today/yesterday i broke it and tomorrow i will replace it". So bottom line phones that breaks are replace next day,simple as that but from iphone 6 you will never see a non perfect screen because scratches will be out of the questions

I give up. Show me something that backs up your claims. I can't show you any that back up mine as I don't see people complaining about scratched screens. I have seen dozens of broken phone screens, it's hardly limited to the iPhone. The mall kiosks here do a good business replacing broken screens, but whatever.

 

[Klae17]

Well silly story anyway since the use of Sapphire as a display is a rumor to begin with. So any alleged delays using an alleged material on an alleged sized device shouldn't surprise anyone.

Once it comes out as the display material do you want to buy all of us ice cream?

 

[kazmac]

In this particular case, I think I'll wait and see what the prices will be before I comment further.

 

[AgentElliot007]

As a gemologist, I'm very familiar with sapphire's durability and usefulness in certain applications. They're used for high end watch crystals because they're very scratch resistant. They do chip and abrade, however. And they're not flexible. I have doubts that sapphire would provide significant net durability benefits over Corning's Gorilla Glass, and that's before cost/benefit considerations.

Count me as one who thinks that Apple's sapphire displays will remain on small screens only (iWatch, iPod Nano, etc), and won't supplant Gorilla Glass for iPhone.

This is what I've thought the whole time. Sure, Apple could end up using it on the iPhone, but I'm thinking the sapphire is for Touch ID, camera lenses and most importantly, an upcoming watch.

 

[Serban]

I give up. Show me something that backs up your claims. I can't show you any that back up mine as I don't see people complaining about scratched screens. I have seen dozens of broken phone screens, it's hardly limited to the iPhone. The mall kiosks here do a good business replacing broken screens, but whatever.

just get outside and look at your friends or people you dont know's phone, 99% percent isnt broke, and 50% that you find has at least 1 scratch.

But from late 2014 that 50% will be gone and there will be only the possibility to broke your screen.

 

[rdlink]

You think? or was it just one of those "a source well known to te issue" are talking BS?

Well, I'm virtually certain that a company wise enough to amass $150 Billion over the last 14 years didn't look at costs associated with sapphire when they bought and built out a sapphire production facility. Someone just said at a meeting one day, "Hey, let's use sapphire." And management just went along... :roll eyes:

Who in their right mind would think that Apple would ever move forward with a component that would add ~$240 to the production price of their phone? They already get pressure on price, and they know that off-contract hardware purchases being pushed by carriers is only going to make that more relevant moving forward.

This is a ridiculous story.

 

[samcraig]

Once it comes out as the display material do you want to buy all of us ice cream?

Are you talking iPhone 6 or iPhone X in the future?

 

[neutrino23]

This story is nonsense. Apple is making their own sapphire and these people don't know Apple's costs.

 

[tongxinshe]

I don't understand what this has to do with Apple when they are manufacturing the Sapphire themselves and from what I understand they build a block of sapphire using only a tiny piece of sapphire as a catalyst, it grows like a crystal so how would the cost of Sapphire affect them if they are growing their own sapphire blocks?

I see, as long as you produce the commodity itself, there is no cost.

 

[gyang333]

Forgive my ignorance, but does this mean a sapphire phone won't shatter if I drop it? That's pretty huge IMO.

Not at all. Sapphire is pretty prone to cracking and shattering. That's the trade-off with sapphire crystals for watches - less prone to scratching than mineral crystal, but more likely to crack. I can imagine that Gorilla Glass is actually stronger, but more prone to scratching?

 

[Robert.Walter]

For that increase in cost, I would expect the iPhone to have a sapphire unibody chassis! (But I would prefer a cheaper scratchable iphone6 option instead, just to avoid this on cost.)

 

[SuperMatt]

Apple's unannounced product is having trouble because we know what the product is, and every type of materials used in it, and one of those materials is becoming expensive.

100% speculation on this rumor - no facts. BS.

 

[Ericstephen]

Morons. Sapphire prices have skyrocketed because Apple has cornered the market... at a favorable price. What others would have to pay for a sapphire display is not what Apple will have to pay for a sapphire display.

Exactly. How dumb do you have to be to think Apple's gonna release an iPhone with sapphire for $1200 US. Lol

 

[groovyd]

Would it be possible for them to manufacture in periodic defects perhaps using their same accelerated ion cutter tool to create sapphire that is not only scratch proof but also shatterproof? thinking like engraining a ripstop type pattern of defects.

 

[Ericstephen]

I'll tell you what'll limit the production of a 5.5" iPhone model - there ISN'T going to be one.

Raising your hopes for an imaginary product, based on imagining that product into reality may feel nice in your head, but for a product to be sold, it has to physically be made, and I express very strong doubts that Apple are going to be the ones seen to release another surfboard phone. Just because Android vendors produce clown-sized phones, doesn't mean that Apple - the company with their OWN timeline and who aren't rushed or pressured into product ideas by outside influences - are going to make something equally sized, just because the mainstream thinks it's a good trend to follow. Making a certain sized phone "just because everyone else does it" is not good business sense.

Apple don't follow the trends, they forge them and *others* follow. Huge phones are huge and stupid looking (buyers will never admit this - it's called pride, something people hate admitting to, as the [perceived] "usefulness" of the large screen, to them, outweighs the clumsy, ugly stupidity of holding an ironing board-sized device to your face), and Apple aren't planning to make a fool of themselves just because X, Y and Z vendor copied Samsung and their inane ideas to create more SKU codes.

In case you missed it @ D11, Tim Cook stated clearly "We don't make the most, we make the best". A huge device may be popular, but consumers DO NOT know how to articulate, clearly, what they want, and will tolerate some shortcomings if the few benefits outweigh them for a period of time... but do you want customers to ADORE your product, or "tolerate" it?

Apple's internal memos essentially state the exact opposite of what you just typed. 2 years ago, Apple realized smartphone growth was due to phablets and cheaper phones....nothing else, only those 2 reasons. Since Apple is not going to make a cheaper phone, that only leaves one option. Your opinions would be more plausible of the 6 was rumored to have a screen size of 5" to 5.2". 4.7" is still on the small end of modern non-iPhone smartphones. If a 5.5" is not released by March, I bet it will come before 2016.

 

[mattintoshmac]

Apple's internal memos essentially state the exact opposite of what you just typed. 2 years ago, Apple realized smartphone growth was due to phablets and cheaper phones....nothing else, only those 2 reasons. Since Apple is not going to make a cheaper phone, that only leaves one option. Your opinions would be more plausible of the 6 was rumored to have a screen size of 5" to 5.2". 4.7" is still on the small end of modern non-iPhone smartphones. If a 5.5" is not released by March, I bet it will come before 2016.

Ponderings and musings relating to outside products, from a business revolving around mobile products does not mean, in ANY manner, that they are guaranteeing you that they definitely will release a 5.5"+ iPhone model.

Wishful thinking is one thing - we all do that - but taking it to the next level and distorting reality to build tiny slivers of knowledge into cast iron, imaginary "promises" of future products is just laughable and makes a mockery of the ability to use human reasoning at a rational, sensible level.

Show me where you've found "promises" of this - this is a RUMOURS SITE - I may hear from some idiot that blah 1 is sleeping with blah 2, and blah 2 is now expecting a baby... does that make it true?

Wait until June 2nd, can you? I can, and I'll be happy for you if they do make the 5.5" device, but it seems about as likely as the planet is to suddenly reverse spin direction at midnight. Apple ain't idiots - they leave that to other companies.

 

[ChrisA]

Forgive my ignorance, but does this mean a sapphire phone won't shatter if I drop it? That's pretty huge IMO.

No sapphire is not shatter resistant. It is nearly scratch proof but easy to break.

My guess is they use a VERY thin layer of sapphire laminated over hard tempered glass.

----------

For that increase in cost, I would expect the iPhone to have a sapphire unibody chassis! (But I would prefer a cheaper scratchable iphone6 option instead, just to avoid this on cost.)

I've been thinking the exact same thing : "unibody sapphire" But for a watch, not a phone. It would make a truly unique watch to be 100% sapphire.

 

[furi0usbee]

iPhone is only cheap in US and a couple of low-tax countries. In most of the world, iPhone price is already priced at USD 1k. In most countries, a new iPhone at $1,5k would be a status symbol and would sell a lot because of this.

For $1500, I'm buying a computer, not a phone...

 

[pika2000]

So, a rumored shortage for a rumored product. Wow, and people thought the Nintendo Wii shortage was bad.

Really, at this point, Apple can literally do nothing, and the blogs will simply cycle the news automatically, from a rumored product, rumored product release, rumored specs, rumored shipment, rumored shortages, etc. And next thing we know, there's a rumor for the next next product.

 

[inscrewtable]

Bto

If the sapphire adds so much on to the cost for the only purpose of extra scratch resistance that would only be of benefit to a limited number of people, then why not make it an optional upgrade. ie offer the phone without sapphire and for those that want it have a smaller number of more expensive phones that include sapphire.

 

[noisycats]

This wasn't thought through very well by Apple.

Which makes me doubt this entire report. Apple is notorious for their logistics and their margins, this report contradicts both.

 

[Ericstephen]

Are there large numbers of complaints about Gorilla Glass screens having scratching problems? Funny, in the time I've been on this forum I never hear any complaints of screen scratching, just dropping and breaking.

I purchased my first sapphire wrist watch 6 years ago and I will never ever purchase a watch without sapphire again. Scratch-proof screen is a huge selling point to me, but probably not for the vast majority of smartphone buyers. Little things here and there really add up; Touch ID, retina, scratch-proof, etc. just a way to differentiate the iPhone.

I'm hoping they spend an insane amount of $ marketing the sapphire iPhone (so easy to do side-by-side comparison commercials with sapphire against Gorilla glass, a gorilla could do it. Yeah have a gorilla scratch the iPhone and the Galaxy and show the end result,,,lol. It would be nice to see Apple throw some comedy in their marketing, or throw some jabs at Samsung. Their commercials are getting long in the tooth.

I haven't seen any mention of the increased resale value of an iPhone that will look brand new after 2 years with the switch to sapphire. Should help resale values 10-20% as long as you use a case.

 

[Ericstephen]

Ponderings and musings relating to outside products, from a business revolving around mobile products does not mean, in ANY manner, that they are guaranteeing you that they definitely will release a 5.5"+ iPhone model.

Wishful thinking is one thing - we all do that - but taking it to the next level and distorting reality to build tiny slivers of knowledge into cast iron, imaginary "promises" of future products is just laughable and makes a mockery of the ability to use human reasoning at a rational, sensible level.

Show me where you've found "promises" of this - this is a RUMOURS SITE - I may hear from some idiot that blah 1 is sleeping with blah 2, and blah 2 is now expecting a baby... does that make it true?

Wait until June 2nd, can you? I can, and I'll be happy for you if they do make the 5.5" device, but it seems about as likely as the planet is to suddenly reverse spin direction at midnight. Apple ain't idiots - they leave that to other companies.

Yes it usually does, answering your baby question. Ever watch Maury Povich? It is reasonable to assume that Apple,which has seen sales growth almost flat in the last few quarters, will make a 5.5" iPhone, especially when smartphone growth is coming from phablets. It's actually common sense.

Why do you think the 4.7" is being made? Is it because Apple suddenly thinks the 4" phone is not the perfect size? No, it's to satisfy market demand.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I purchased my first sapphire wrist watch 6 years ago and I will never ever purchase a watch without sapphire again. Scratch-proof screen is a huge selling point to me, but probably not for the vast majority of smartphone buyers. Little things here and there really add up; Touch ID, retina, scratch-proof, etc. just a way to differentiate the iPhone.

I'm hoping they spend an insane amount of $ marketing the sapphire iPhone (so easy to do side-by-side comparison commercials with sapphire against Gorilla glass, a gorilla could do it. Yeah have a gorilla scratch the iPhone and the Galaxy and show the end result,,,lol. It would be nice to see Apple throw some comedy in their marketing, or throw some jabs at Samsung. Their commercials are getting long in the tooth.

I haven't seen any mention of the increased resale value of an iPhone that will look brand new after 2 years with the switch to sapphire. Should help resale values 10-20% as long as you use a case.

I understand the scratch proof watch as watches are easily scratched and it has been an issue for watches since day 1. What I am wondering is, how much of a problem is scratching on a phone screen? I never read or hear complaints about scratched screens, just broken ones. Obviously just because I haven't heard about it doesn't mean it isn't a problem but I really think there'd be more reports about it.

 

[Scapal]

Wow, there's so much ignorance to be found here regarding the benefits of sapphire crystal.

Using sapphire as a substrate achieves nothing at all, it's only as a surface layer that it makes any sense.. since it's the surface that would be part that has to fend off scratches.

And no, Gorilla glass doesn't come close to the scratch resistance of sapphire crystal.

Apple just bought LuxVue who was developing micro-led technology using sapphire and had several patents related to sapphire.
Micro-led doesn't need backlighting, consume less power while delivering 9 times better brightness. It would be Apple answer to oled.

What if the the sapphire screen protection was the screen itself with the circuitry printed on it's back? This would allow thinner screens even if the sapphire layer is a bit thicker than the current Gorilla Glass.