Sapphire will surely be part of the rumoured iOS phablet, the iPhone 6, 2014 release date as Apple announced that it has secured a steady and relatively affordable source of the sturdy coating material.

The tech giant, according to Apple Insider, will be sourcing its sapphire requirements soon from GT Advance Technologies. The partnership between the two firms will reportedly cost $578 million.

Flushed with cash, Apple is footing the initial investment required to put up an Advanced Sapphire Furnace facility, which the same report said will soon mass produce sapphire for use on electronic gadgets.

With the deal, the iPhone maker is assured that it will have access to cheaper sapphire materials for various use on iOS and OS X devices.

There was no mention on the actual production timetable but the large-screen iPhone 6 could be a direct beneficiary of the multi-million dollar deal in case the next-gen device is indeed issued in the third quarter of 2014.

Sapphire is already part of the iOS supply chain, presently used by Apple manufacturers to protect the camera lens and Touch ID button of the iPhone 5S.

Apple watchers are convinced the crystallised aluminium oxide will play a bigger role in upcoming mobile gadgets from the company. Currently in focus is the possibility that Apple will ditch the Corning Gorilla Glass coating used on previous iPhone builds.

In its stead, the next iPhones would be completely wrapped in sapphire, possibly rendering the upcoming iPhone 6 scratch-free through the life of the product.

Another plus is in the form-factor area. Sapphire rendered on mobile devices is thinner compared to Gorilla Glass. Employing the material would give Apple more room to design and manufacture slimmer and lighter iPhones and iPads.

Previously published patents of the tech giant also allude to cutting-edge manufacturing techniques that factor in the use of sapphire on future iOS devices.

And combined with the supposed LiquidMetal casing, which allows the forming of handsets into irregular shapes while providing an almost indestructible chassis, the iPhone 6 appears to be developing as the most advanced iPhone build.

IBT AU has also reported that the phablet-size device could boast of charging-on-the-go feature thanks to a built-in solar panel and up to 4GB of RAM, the latter made possible by the use of 64-bit processing chips on the handset.

The iPhone 6 or iPhone Air release date is pegged some time in Sept 2014 if Apple should adhere to its usual product cycle though some analysts are betting that the rollout could be advanced on June of the same year.