According to reports, the Cupertino-based tech giant is pushing hard to have their Sapphire crystal factory up and running.
Last year, Apple made a deal with GT Advance Technologies to open a Sapphire crystal manufacturing facility to produce “critical” and “new” sub-component for future Apple devices. Both companies have various activities that point to mass producing the material for device displays.
There are no other details available about this, but it can be speculated that this could be for Sapphire crystal displays for future iDevices. Sapphire crystal glass are mostly found on expensive watches. It was even used by luxury phone maker Vertu. It is durable and very difficult to scratch or break. Its a capable challenger to Gorilla Glass and Dragontrail.
Anyway, I’m excited about this because it could mean the end of scratches and screen protectors (with the difficulty of installing one). Now, some would argue that Gorilla Glass or Dragontrail is enough, but its proven that these displays can still be scratched and damaged. Sapphire crystal displays, on the other hand, can withstand keys, coins and sand (read: not a lot can scratch it). Better technology on screen display protection will push other phone makers to adapt, forcing innovation, making everyone better, and most of us happy.
Source 9to5Mac