According to a report, Foxconn has completed the assembly of 100 units of prototype iPhones that sport sapphire-coated screens.
The news comes to us courtesy of Chinese-speaking AppleDaily, which was spotted and translated by AppleInsider. According to the site, “The testing is said to have taken place at a Foxconn-owned factory in the Longhua district of Shenzhen, a major manufacturing city in mainland China’s Guangdong province. Taiwanese newspaper Apple Daily was the first to report the news on Friday.
“Despite the low number of assembled units, the test reportedly marks a major milestone for Foxconn. Working with sapphire, rather than Corning’s softer Gorilla Glass, is said to markedly increase the complexity of the devices’ manufacturing process.”
It adds, “Rumors that Apple would move to a sapphire cover for its next-generation handset first appeared in 2012, though subsequent releases — including the iPhone 5, 5c, and 5s — have continued to feature Gorilla Glass. The whispers grew louder last November when word broke that Apple had signed a $578 million deal with GT Advanced Technologies to open a sapphire manufacturing plant in Arizona, though some have speculated that plant may instead produce sapphire for a so-called ‘iWatch.’”
With Foxconn rumoured to complete the assembly of 100 prototype iPhones sporting sapphire screens, does this mean the Apple iPhone 6 will sport a sapphire-coated screen? Let us know what you think through a comment on our Phones Limited Facebook page.
