Apple iPhone 6 and iWatch could have unscratchable sapphire screens

The iPhone 6′s screen could be completely scratch-proof. Unless you’re in the habit of walking around with diamonds in your pockets that is.

Canonical’s CEO Mark Shuttleworth has told Gigaom that Apple has recently snapped up a three-year supply of sapphire screens, which he wanted to use for the Ubuntu Edge. Bad luck.

Apple already uses sapphire to protect the iPhone 6’s Touch ID Home button and camera lens, but with an order that big, we could be looking at entire screens made out of the super-hard material, for both the iPhone 6 and iWatch.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard whispers of fully scratch-proof iScreen. Apple has already created at least 100 iPhone prototypes with full sapphire displays, and it signed a US$578 million contract with GT Advanced Technology last November, in a deal which provides them with the sapphire materials required to manufacture the screens.

Given how we like to carry around our smartphones without bulky cases, this could be very good news indeed

READ MORE: iPhone 6 could have an unscratchable sapphire glass-coated screen, embedded with solar cells

Esat Dedezade Contributor

About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.