The iPhone 6 isn't anywhere near being done, but rumors have already started swirling about how Apple will make the newest entry different from earlier models.

The company has now partnered sapphire glass experts GT Advanced Technologies and is opening a mineral plant in Arizona, according to The Daily Mail. The news sparked speculation that the company will make the iPhone 6's screen entirely out of sapphire glass.

The company already uses sapphire crystal in their Touch ID fingerprint scanner, available on the iPhone 5S. If Apple uses the same style in the iPhone 6, it will be the first to replace the Gorilla glass currently used in most high-end smartphones.

Switching to sapphire glass could improve the quality of the phones because sapphire is a much stronger material. The hard, transparent material is usually found in watch displays for its thin, super-strong and scratch-resistant abilities. It is created when aluminum oxide is crystallized at a high temperature, forming a disk than can be sliced by a diamond-coated saw and then ground into shape and polished.

Apple has not released any official statements about the possible technology, though they did make a comment about the new plant in general:

"The new plant will make components for Apple products and it will run on 100 percent renewable energy from day one, as a result of the work we are doing with SRP to create green energy sources to power the facility."

If the company does manufacture a phone that is made of sapphire glass, it could come at a potential cost for consumers. The screens are more expensive to produce than the traditional ones and could raise the cost of the finished product.

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Iphone 6