Apple is reportedly spending $578 million for its iPhone 6 sapphire glass screen.
It has only been months since the launch of the high-end iPhone 5S and the low-cost iPhone 5C, but Apple is here again working full-time for the next sensational smartphone.
According to a report from Mirror, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has already spent $578 million for its iPhone 6 development.
It was previously reportedly that Apple has signed a $578 million agreement with U.S. manufacturer GT Advanced Technologies for the production of the iridescent blue sapphire glass and looking for 2,000 workers in its Arizona plant.
So how can a sapphire screen costs that much and why Apple wants it? A marketing analyst from IHS Inc. explained it, “Sapphire substrates are suitable for covering lenses, buttons and displays because they are transparent, yet more scratch-resistant than glass. Glass can become scratched from contact with hard objects, which can degrade the performance of a camera lens or a fingerprint recognition window.”
Presently the company is using sapphire glass on the cover its iPhone 5S’s rear facing camera and on its Touch ID button. There were speculations that Apple decided to use it as its new iPhone screen to attract buyers.
However, sapphire is way expensive and more complicated to produce than the Corning Gorilla Glass currently used by Apple.
The $578 million budget will be allocated in the kiln that will be used in the creation of sapphire material as part of the deal Apple has with GT Advanced Technologies.
In the company’s third quarter financial results, Tom Gutierrez, CEO of GT Advanced, said in a statement, “We are very excited about this agreement with Apple as it represents a significant milestone in GT’s long term diversification strategy.”
According to rumors, Apple is working on a larger display for the iPhone 6 to sustain the demands for phablets.
