Sapphire display for the next iPhone? A new Apple patent seems to confirm

Apple has abandoned the idea for display in sapphire for its mobile devices after the failure to GT Advanced Technologies? The answer is no. Today, in fact, the US Patent And Trademark Office published a patent application by the Cupertino giant that describes a new method of production of its display in sapphire.

As explained by Apple's patent, the sapphire crystal is paradoxically strong and fragile at the same time. The sapphire reaches a score of 9.0 on the Mohs scale, which means that it is able to scratch almost all other materials. But it is also very delicate, meaning that small surface defects or edges could seriously undermine his resistance.

To solve this problem, the display will be cut sapphire, as explained by the patent, with the laser. This will avoid the wear of particular cutting tools and decrease dramatically the number of possible defects.

Sure, Apple could use this technology to other components in Sapphire, smaller, as the camera lens or display of Apple Watch, but the patent mentions specifically "mobile phone" as a category.