All about Technology: Apple filed to expand sapphire production, likely for the iWatch

Thursday 21 August 2014

Apple filed to expand sapphire production, likely for the iWatch

In case you wanted even more evidence Apple is planning to release a new sapphire laden device, here is a signed document.

PTT Research Senior Analyst Matt Margolis has posted an Apple filing on Scribd that asked the U.S Department of Commerce for permission to expand its sapphire production operations at its new Mesa, Arizona factory. Everything looks real down to Apple Director of Global Trade Compliance James J. Patton's signature.

The alleged request was filed on July 2 and it asks Department of Commerce for an expedited review so that Apple could meet an "aggressive go-live timeline of August 2014." The letter goes also on to make several mentions to sapphire and "jewelry components."

Adding everything up, it seems as though Apple was looking to kick start sapphire production by the beginning of the month. The newly reported documents tie closely to reports last week suggesting Apple was hoping to begin producing mass quantities of sapphire by the end of August at its GT Advanced Technologies co-operated factory.

Time's up

So far, we've heard many early reports pointing to the Cupertino introducing a sapphire screen device. Once again there's no mention what size or type of electronic we might see sapphire being incorporated into.

Due to the lateness of the sapphire production it seems even less likely it will come to the iPhone 6. Assuming history repeats itself, Apple's next handset should show up at its usual September event and go on sale close to a week later.

It would be nearly impossible for Apple to go from producing phones, assembling them and then launching the device into a full retail launch all within the span of a month and a half. At the same time reports have suggested sapphire is being reserved for a more expensive iPhone 6.

The heavily speculated iWatch seems like a much more likely candidate to receive the sapphire screen upgrade. Luxury watches typically come with the scratch resistant material and a recent report also tipped the Apple wearable to get the sapphire treatment.

Apple could also easily announce the smartwatch at a later date unlike the iPhone, which is expected shortly.