Apple Acquired 3-Year Supply of Sapphire Display, Canonical CEO Says

Sapphire glass furnaces

As it turns out, Apple isn’t the only one after sapphire glass. While speaking about the future of the mobile Ubuntu, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth made an interesting side remark about Apple and its sapphire glass investment (via GigaOm).

“Apple just snapped up the entire 3-year supply of the same sapphire display we wanted for the Edge,” Shuttleworth said

His remarks come after Apple has inked a $578 million deal with GT-Advanced. While the early reports were blurry enough, reports have surfaced stating that Apple has exclusive rights to the sapphire glass supply — for a certain period. In fact, the company has racked up enough provisions for roughly 200 million ~5-inch iPhones.

The latter is quite interesting from the perspective of recent rumours. Since Apple and GT-Advanced have joined forces — supposedly to make sapphire glass more affordable thanks to the former’s patents and the latter’s technology — contradictory rumours have surfaced about Apple’s future plans for sapphire glass.

Some say the material will be used for the iWatch only, while other rumours claim it will serve as a selling point of the iPhone 6. A recent rumour says Apple will release a 5.6-inch handset that will stand out with its sapphire glass display, but it won’t be branded as the iPhone.

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