During an Ubuntu Town Hall Hangout on Wednesday, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth made some interesting comments regarding Apple’s sapphire displays.

“Apple just snapped up three year’s worth of the supply of sapphire screens from the company that we had engaged to make the screens for the [Ubuntu] Edge [smartphone],” he said.

For those unfamiliar with it, the Ubuntu Edge was a proposed “high concept” smartphone announced by Canonical on 22 July 2013. Canonical was seeking to crowdfund a production run of 40,000 units through Indiegogo, but the project was scrapped when fundraising was able to only raise $12,809,906 out of the $32 million goal needed to kickstart the project.

Sapphire glass was in the news again today, thanks to a jump in the share price of GT Advanced Technologies Inc. — the company which will reportedly manufacture the iPhone 6’s sapphire display.

With contrasting reports about sapphire’s advantages over Gorilla Glass, along with counter-reports from Gorilla Glass maker Corning, we figured the time was right to break down some of the questions about Apple’s latest wonder-material.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. shares received a nice boost on Tuesday, on the back of reports that Apple will use the company’s sapphire glass for its next generation iPhone cover.

GT shares posted a new 52-week high of $12.72, while analysts at Canaccord Genuity also raised their price targets on the company from $13 to $15.

A new Apple patent, published Tuesday, reveals how future Apple earbuds and headphones might incorporate health-monitoring features.

The patent shows how a monitoring system could be cleverly built into Apple earphones, and used to track activity such as speed and distance traveled during exercise. The device would also be able to sense other biometric data relating to metrics body temperature, perspiration rate, and heart rate.

Apple is reportedly looking into developing a device capable of predicting heart attacks.

The medical sensor device — possibly a feature for the long-reported iWatch, if previous rumors are to be believed — would listen to the sound blood makes as it flows through arteries, and use this to predict irregularities.

With rumors of the iWatch and future Apple products focusing on health continuing to swell, Apple has hired yet another medical device expert.

Marcelo Malini Lamego joined Apple at the end of last month, having previously spent 8 years as the CTO of Cercacor — a medical device company, based in Irvine, CA, involved with the development of non-invasive patient monitoring technologies, including medical devices and sensors.

This is Cult of Mac’s exclusive column written by an actual Apple Store Genius who answers all your questions about working at an Apple Store. Our genius must remain anonymous, but other than “Who are you, anyway?” ask anything you want about what goes on behind that slick store facade.

This week our Genius answers why the iPhone screen can be repaired in stores while the iPad has to be shipped away from special care. We also discuss whether working at the Apple Store can be turned into a solid career, plus the top 5 most annoying things customers do at the Apple Store.

Got a question you want the inside scoop on? Send us your questions and the answers will be published first in Cult of Mac’s Magazine on Newsstand. Send your questions to newsATcultofmac.com with “genius” in the subject line.

Q: On average, how many customers come in to ask for or buy the new Mac Pro?

You’d be surprised how often people ask about it. It’s a brand new product so a lot of people that come into the store are curious what it looks like, want to know the new features and ogle the new design the same way the iPhone and iPad tables are crushed after a launch.

On the other hand, it’s a professional machine with a price tag that would intimidate Bigfoot himself, so I personally haven’t met anyone who has bought one in the store, but we never have any in stock — orders are backed up until April!

Q: Would you leave your job at Apple for a higher-paying job?

Hell yes. Let’s be real, working at the Apple Store is fun but it’s not my dream job. I get to be surrounded by cool tech and great people who are uncontrollably excited about everything Apple. The pay is decent, Apple treats us pretty well, and you could make a career out of it if you want to, but at the end of the day it’s still a retail position.

A few friends that have left Apple told management they got a better offers from another company but management rarely tries to match an outside offer. Once that higher-paying job comes along, a lot of people leave.

The monotony of the job wears you down and it’s not like you’re actually working for Apple corporate, so it doesn’t feel quite as magical or special as I imagine working at HQ in Cupertino would. In the end, it really is just a job and lots of people come and go after finding greener pastures elsewhere.

Q: Is it true you are not allowed to go on rumor sites like Cult of Mac and MacRumors?

You’re not supposed to read them while you’re at Apple, but a lot of us read the rumor sites in our free time. We get just as excited about new iPhones, iPads and the possibility of an iWatch as all the other Apple fanboys, but we’re in the dark as much as regular customers about future products.

We’re not allowed to speculate about future products with customers. If a customer asks whether I’ve heard about X post on Y Apple blog about Z unannounced product, I’m supposed to act clueless, say I’ve never heard of it nor do I know anything about Apple’s plans, but really I’ll be chowing down on the latest iPhone rumors during my lunch break.

A patent application published Thursday reveals how Apple could incorporate flexible OLED displays into future devices to improve their function without sacrificing strength. The technology could get Apple closer to producing bezel-less devices in existing product lines such as the iPhone, iPad and MacBook as well as speculative product categories like the iWatch.

The patent refers to a technique for reducing a display border by bending the sides of a display surface in such a way that electrode materials used in the device could be made to stretch rather than break when bent or folded. The application, titled “Flexible Displays” and filed in July 2013, means that future Apple devices need not be limited in size by the requirement that they include metal or plastic housings.

The iPhone 6 is still many months away from launching but the rumor mill has sprayed a steady stream of rumors about Apple’s next handset, with the latest claiming Apple will ditch the iPhone’s bezel for an edge-to-edge display.

With rumors of a new Apple-made “fitness app” coming to iOS 8, secret meetings with the FDA, and murmurs of more sleep and fitness experts joining the Apple ranks, the iWatch rumors are heating up on this week’s CultCast! Plus, a classic Nintendo game makes its way to iOS; Microsoft says goodbye to the one and only Steve Ballmer; and new job openings in Cupertino could mean big upgrades in battery life for future MacBooks…

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