iFixit recent teardown of iPod touch 6 revealed the absence of sapphire covered lens, reported Apple Insider.

Apple recently announced it will be launching Apple HomeKit devices next month, denying a previous Fortune report that pushed back the release date to fall, according to several tech and business media reports.

Apple might be releasing limited edition of sapphire screened phones for the larger sized 5.5-inch models in the upcoming iPhone 6S, an Apple Insider report quoted Ming-Chi Kuo, Analyst of KGI Securities saying.

Beth Comstock, President & CEO, GE Business Innovations, today shared GE’s plans to engineer intelligent, color-changing LED lighting compatible with Apple’s HomeKit during GE’s Connected Future event, unveiling LED-enabled Intelligent Environments capabilities for cities, buildings and homes.

Two years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook deemed OLED screens color saturation as “awful,” and lauded Retina display resolution and color performance as far superior, but this all might be changing for the company’s future iPads.

After Apple abandoned using sapphire protective glass covers in the iPhone 6 last year, sapphire substrates have been viewed as the equivalent to market speculation in the investment market. Following GT Advanced Technology’s (GTAT) bankruptcy filing in early October 2014, the idea of applying sapphire material in consumer electronics has become ridiculed on the mainstream market.

Apple’s long term OEM Foxconn and Innolux will be producing OLED displays for upcoming iDevices, according to a report from Japanese media, Nikkan Kogyo Shumbun.

Taiwanese touch screen supplier Wintek laid off nearly 90% of its staff, as the financially struggling company aims to transform its business model to become a new LED manufacturer, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News report.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) used “bait-and-switch” tactics in negotiating a contract with sapphire-maker GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (GTATQ), guaranteeing itself “heads I win, tails you lose” terms, a GT executive said in an unsealed court document.

Apple and GT Advanced Technology (GTAT) settlement was unaffected by the publication of documents previously considered confidential, according to a Bloomberg report.

Many consumers are still waiting in line to receive their iPhone 6, hardly a month has gone by since the smartphone’s launch, but market rumors about its successor are already being leaked by a British Christian news website.

After parting ways with former sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technology (GTAT), Apple will turn to third party sapphire suppliers to supply sapphire watch covers for the upcoming smartwatch, analyzed Seeking Alpha.

The seal on confidential documents signed between Apple and sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technology (GTAT) is expected to be gradually lifted in its bankruptcy case, according to a Bloomberg report.

oort, inventor of the unique, patent-pending technology that lets users create smarter homes and businesses, has today launched its online store to offer the first system of smart devices based exclusively on Bluetooth Smart, that can be controlled with a single app.

GT Advanced Technology’s (GTAT) recently carried out major job cuts, and intends to take legal action against former partner Apple, according to a Reuters report.

Since GT Advanced Technology (GTAT) abruptly filed for bankruptcy protection this Monday, many industry insiders have speculated how this will impact Apple. While most Wall Street financial analysts believe Apple could walk away with GTAT’s sapphire equipment and patents at a bargain price, one report believes Apple could acquire GTAT.

Taiwanese sapphire manufacturer Tera Xtel Technology filed a sapphire camera lens patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, Senao International and Vibao on Oct. 9, 2014 (Taipei time). The company is seeking compensation totaling NT $300 million (US $9.88 million) from the three companies.

U.S. sapphire furnace and sapphire manufacturer GTAT, the primary sapphire supplier to Apple, filed for bankruptcy on October 6. As of September 29, GTAT reported having US $85 million in cash. Under the $578 million multi-year agreement GTAT and Apple signed last November, GTAT must supply a certain volume of sapphire ingots to Apple while Apple was to pay GTAT in four installments with the final $139 million payment scheduled for the end of October. But low sapphire yield rates have made Apple withhold the last payment. Additionally, GTAT lost an American Arbitration Association (AAA) lawsuit against Taiwanese sapphire manufacturer Tera Xtal Technology in August. AAA ruled GTAT should return payment totaling $ 24 million for faulty sapphire crystal growth furnaces, which greatly strained the firm’s finances.

Sapphire manufacturer GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) bankruptcy protection announcement sent shockwaves throughout Wall Street on October 6, 2014. Investors and financial institutes were shocked, no one expected the seemingly promising Apple sapphire supplier to declare insolvency.

Tim Bajarin, President of U.S. market intelligence company Creative Strategy, refuted an earlier report by PTT Research Senior Analyst Matt Margolis that Apple dropped sapphire substrate last minute because of Chinese sapphire glass processing manufacturers Biel Crystal and Lens Technology’s low yield rates.

Chinese sapphire substrate manufacturer Biel Crystal, which has long kept a low profile, recently responded to market rumors about Lens Technology being a major smartphone screen supplier for Apple and Samsung, according to a Shenzhen Commercial report.

In the Western hemisphere, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has earned a reputation of being an Apple wannabe. Whether it is in the phone’s exterior design or operation system interface, Xiaomi tends to mimic Apple’s every detail (TechCrunch even made a graphic comparison last week to deliver the point), so it probably is not too surprising that it now wants sapphire glass for its premium smartphones too.

Apple might still be using the dual-LED flash technology, True Tone Flash, in the latest iPhone 6 after all, according to numerous reports by MacRumors, Slashgear, 9to5Mac and others.

Upholding a positive outlook on smartphone optical and LED application markets large demands, Taiwanese sapphire substrate manufacturer Crystal Applied has kicked off production expansion projects in Yancheng City located in Jiangsu Province in China. As more manufacturers expand production capacity in the industry, finding methods to increase profits will be key to survival, said Chang Chien-ming, Chairman of the company’s Yancheng City branch.

New rumors regarding limited usage of sapphire cover glass usage in iPhone 6 have emerged in Taiwan. According to a Chinese-language Liberty Times report only one out of 10 of Apple's new iPhone 6 will be using the sapphire cover glass.

Apple fans might be slightly disappointed to note the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 launch date might be pushed back to 2015, according to an Apple Insider report.

A video released by Chinese media Apple Daily shows rumored Apple iPhone 6 sapphire phone cover withstanding coin and key scratches, and does not deform when bending. The phone cover even emerges unscathed after being forcefully thrown to the ground, and being roasted by a lighter. It took a 1.6-ton car to break the cover to several dozen pieces.

It has been reported that Apple has been granted new three new sapphire glass related patents from the U.S. Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 8, 2014. Discovered by AppleInsider, the three new patents cover a method to strengthen weak areas in sapphire display covers, application of sapphire to illuminate buttons, and embedded product details under a sapphire layer. 

Apple has applied for a new patent for the development of an LED based keyboard, according to Patently Apple. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published the company’s patent application on June 26, 2014. 

Apple’s Chinese suppliers have leaked that the new iPhone 6 will begin mass production next month, reported Bloomberg. Increasing competition from other smartphone makers may have pressured the company into early production.