Innovating Apple aims for dramatic wraparound iPhone 6 release

The tech industry appears convinced that Apple's next smartphone, the iPhone 6, will sport a significant hardware upgrade - featuring a larger screen and a wraparound display.

According to a host of analyst and Apple enthusiasts, Cupertino's new release, not expected until the second half of next year, will take mobile innovation to the next level.

While sources close to the tech giant are keeping quiet on any possible displays for the new device, Kazakhstan designer Iskander Utebayev has went one better, posting the new concept on Behance.net website.

"The only way to create a true edge-to-edge display is to remove the edge all together." Utebayev states.

Utebayev also claims designer Jony Ive and co are working on a scratch free smartphone, coming with a "manmade sapphire crystal" screen - a claim backed up by Forbes earlier this month.

After recently signing a multi-year agreement with GT Advanced Technologies to produce sapphire on a large scale, Forbes' technology reporter Nigam Arora believes the move will see Apple charge ahead of its rivals within the mobile space.

"Sapphire is almost unbreakable," Arora claims. "Traditionally, it has been used as a substitute for glass on armored military vehicles.

"If Apple can claim that screens on its devices are nearly unbreakable, it will get a leg up over the competition such as Samsung.

"Among natural materials, only the diamond is more scratch resistance than sapphire.

"Imagine an Apple advertisement showing a user trying to scratch an iPhone screen with a key but unable to do so.

"Such an advertisement will go a long way towards countering those who claim that Apple is no longer innovating."

But while the picture is still blurred when it comes to Apple's next smartphone, many believe the device will certainly become larger than its predecessors, which would invariably drive up cost for consumers.

"We see the potential for the iPhone 6 price point to move higher, to avoid the profit margin erosion that occurred when iPhone 5 launched," says Christ Caso of Susquehanna Financial Group, according to Investors.com.

"When iPhone 5 was launched, Apple's phone margins declined because the new features (most notably the display) added cost to the bill of materials, yet the price point of the phone remained unchanged.

"Since we're expecting a host of new features in the iPhone 6 (including a larger screen), we expect the bill of materials cost of the phone to increase as well."

In a video released by Utebayev, the design stretches the screen over three sides of the handset, replacing the aluminium volume controls on the side of the current iPhone with touchscreen buttons.

Check out the video below:

Will Apple introduce a wraparound screen and scratch resistant material? Is this the dramatic shift in innovation consumers want?