Canonical founder claims Apple acquired three yearsworth of sapphire displays

Does Canonical’s Mark Shuttleworth know something about Apple’s rumored sapphire displays that we don’t? During a Town Hall Hangout Wednesday, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth made comments about sapphire displays that it was planning for its own Ubuntu Edge smartphone. “Apple just snapped up three year’s worth of the supply of sapphire screens from the company that we had engaged to make the screens for the Edge,” he said. 

Ubuntu developer Canonical has told investors and analysts in a conference call that part of the reason it had been unable to produce a planned 4.5-inch smartphone running the Linux-based OS was because (in addition to financial issues) Apple had “scooped up” the entire three-year supply” of sapphire screens the company had planned to use. While not a confirmation that Apple plans to create a 4.5-inch display in a future iPhone, the quote seems to reaffirm that Apple is planning to incorporate the practically-unscratchable material in its future products. Apple is already known to have entered into a partnership with GT Technology, investing in a sapphire manufacturing plant. Apple already uses sapphire glass for both the glass covering the camera on the iPhone 5 units, as well as the iPhone 5s’ Touch ID home button.