It’s that time of year Apple Sheep and Fanboys, whichever name you prefer!
So it IS more than just the little glass Screen on the Touch ID Sensor as
I’d predicted in my blog article
entitled “Apple
iPhone and the Sapphire plated Touch ID Fingerprint scanner - The Death of
passwords and the birth of Biometrics”.
It might even be the Edge-to-Edge display that Apple Fans have been dreaming up online,
ditching the need to have a Bezel altogether, based on these patents alone as
opined in “iPhone
6 speculation goes bezel-less”, published February 11, 2014 10:23 PM PST by
Brooke Crothers, CNET News. This of course
based on speculation from the Korean Herald as reported in “Samsung, Apple vie
to roll out slimmer, savvier next-generation smartphones”, published
2014-02-11 20:03, The Korea Herald.
This also hints at the idea of a larger 5 inch display as stated in “Visions
of a larger iPhone 6 are stunning”, published February 7, 2014 9:25 AM PST
by Eric Mack, CNET News. Italian designer
Federico Ciccarese mock-ups in the video below suggests that Apple might also be planning to throw their
hat into the phablet market (???), which from my point of view is highly
unlikely.
More interestingly, it’s yet another product or component in this case to
be manufactured in the US of A aside from the Apple
Mac Pro as described in my blog article
entitled “Apple
launches Retina dipslay 13-inch and 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro and the Apple Mac
Pro - Expensive upgrades with Graphics and Programming Professionals in mind”.
Apple’s Sapphire Plant – Jobs
for Arizona people as Apple get coated in Unbreakable Sapphire
Apple allegedly is setting up an
Arizona Plant to Mass Produce Sapphire for displays by February 2014 as stated
in “Apple
to make critical new component at Sapphire Plant”, published January 30,
2014 6:32 AM PST by Lance Whitney, CNET News.
Truth be told this isn’t news, as Apple had
announced as far back as Tuesday November 5th 2013 as noted in the
article “Apple
inks $578 million deal for Sapphire production”, published November 5, 2013
8:43 AM PST by Don Reisinger, CNET News.
Apple had stated that they had the
intention to build yet another manufacturing Plant in the USA to create more
jobs manufacturing their products similar to the one already manufacturing the
cylindrical shaped Apple Mac Pro in Texas
as described in “A
US-made Mac Pro is a token gesture”, published October 23, 2013 4:00 AM PDT
by Roger Cheng, CNET News.
Apple had also signed a US$578
million deal with GT Advanced Technologies to set up a Plant to mass-produce
the Sapphire for Apple Products on the same
date as the Arizona Plant announcement as stated in “Apple
inks $578 million deal for Sapphire production”, published November 5, 2013
8:43 AM PST by Don Reisinger, CNET News.
Apparently the money was ponied up by Apple
as a down payment on the Plant that GT Advanced Technologies would own, as GT
Advanced Crystal Systems will pay back the amount to Apple by 2015 and possibly may manage the Plant
on Apple’s behalf.
GT Advanced Technologies and Sapphire
Screens – Alumina may be the Source Material
GT Advanced Crystal Systems is the company that developed the technology
to manufacture Sapphire for commercial usage and they own the Furnaces used to
make Sapphire as described in my blog article entitled
“Sapphire
Screens for smartphones by Q1 2014 - Unscratchable Sign of Virgo is the Man of
Steel to revive Jamaican Alumina Industry”.
According to the Analyst Matt Margolis in the article “Apple
closer to mass producing Sapphire displays, report says”, published
February 6, 2014 2:55 PM PST by Desiree Everts DeNunzio, CNET News Apple
is seriously “a go hard pon dis’ one”:
1.
518 furnace and chamber systems
2.
103 million to 116 million 5-inch displays per
year Fabrication capacity
3.
420 machines are still being ordered
4.
938 furnace and chamber systems in total
Apple has also allegedly ordered
Intego Sirius Sapphire Display Inspection Tool components to ensure quality
control for the manufacturing of the screens, suggesting that this is a
critical component of the Apple product and
may in fact be a screen, such as for the Apple
iPhone 6.
Folks, no matter which way you interpret this, that’s a LOT of Sapphire
and it definitely has to be for some screen element for a mass-produced Apple Product as stated in “Apple's
Arizona Plant could make 'unprecedented' amounts of Sapphire”, published
February 10, 2014 8:01 AM PST by Shara Tibken, CNET
News. Token gesture or not, the job numbers aren't bad and marks good PR
(Public Relations) for Apple, demonstrating
that they are bringing American Jobs home:
1.
700 Employees
2.
1,300 during construction
Apple also plans to make the Plant
operate off-the-grid and be totally solar powered, a coupe for the Tree-hugging
environmentalist types. Apple spokeswoman
Kristin Huguet in speaking to CNET News back in November 2013, put it best,
quote: “We are proud to expand our domestic manufacturing initiative with a new
facility in Arizona, creating more than 2,000 jobs in engineering,
manufacturing, and construction. This new Plant will make components for Apple products and it will run on 100 percent
renewable energy from day one, as a result of the work we are doing with SRP to
create green energy sources to power the facility”.
ALCOA, Jamaica Bauxite Industry
Revival coming – Corning Glass on the Ropes
So what will the source material be for the Sapphire? Most likely Alumina
from Bauxite, which can be processed in the Furnaces and chambers to produce Sapphire
as explained in my blog article
entitled “Sapphire
Screens for smartphones by Q1 2014 - Unscratchable Sign of Virgo is the Man of
Steel to revive Jamaican Alumina Industry”. So Jamaica and other Alumina
producers worldwide may stand to benefit, as if Apple
starts doing it, the other Smartphone manufacturers are sure to follow.
To keep up with the demand, Apple may
need to secure supplies of Alumina as a starter material to make Sapphire, as
chemically they are similar, differing in terms of the arrangement of the
molecules that make up each material.
The company with the most to fear however, is Corning as noted in “Why
Apple is investing in Sapphire glass for the iPhone 6, and why Corning should
be nervous”, published February 12, 2014 at 12:00 pm By Sebastian Anthony, ExtremeTech. If Sapphire makes a huge
debut on Apple iPhones, rest assured it’ll
be coming to other Apple Products.
Sapphire may eventually end up being used on their Apple iMacs as well and even their future Apple Television sets as described in my blog article
entitled “Apple
to launch TV and a Cloud Gaming Console in 2014 - How the Apple iTV and
Television Set can kill The Grandmaster in the guise of Nintendo, Sony and
Microsoft”.
Folks, stay tuned for more developments and rumours on the Apple iPhone going Sapphire as this may well
be Corning’s Pompeii (2014).
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