While iPhone 6 rumors have focused on a larger display and the use of sapphire glass, a new report suggests it will be the display's technology that is the real change.
Forbes reports that Apple will use the Quantum Dot technology found in the Kindle Fire HDX which recently bested both the iPad Air and iPad mini in display shootouts. However, Apple will use the technology with its own twist that delivers a much wider color gamut.
Nanosys holds over 300 patents in QD and has Samsung as a major investor. They wouldn't confirm Apple will make use of QD, quoting NDAs; however, CEO Jason Hartlove told the site that the first QD smartphone would launch by mid-year.
Notably, the US patent office recently published 4 Apple QD related patent applications which indicates they've been working on the technology for some time.
The applications are for improvements in QD technology - but Hartlove asserts that any work Apple is doing will be built on top of Nanosys’ patents. So the technology is there to be used – what Apple is doing, as it did with Retina, is creating its own variant and not just laying patent traps for potential competitors. Its work seems to be aimed at eliminating some of the compromise between color saturation and accuracy that Amazon had to concede to.
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