The latest buzz on the iPhone 6 release date this 2014 suggests of major production movement and software development, specifically involving sapphire material and the new platform that will power the device - iOS 8.

Apple has reportedly started shipping out sapphire materials that are destined to a production facility in China, CNET said in a new report.

"GT shipped some small quantities of sapphire made in its Arizona fab to one of Apple's partners in China who is in charge of making sapphire covers," Stephen Chin of UBS Securities was reported by CNET as saying in a new research note.

GT is GT Advanced Technologies - the same firm contracted by the tech giant last year to supply its large-scale sapphire requirements, supposedly geared for iOS devices.

As early as March 2014, Apple has started delivering sapphire materials to its unidentified manufacturing partner in mainland China, Apple Insider said in a separate report. The initial batch of shipment was estimated to cost at around $1 million.

However, GT is seen to begin ramping up its sapphire production capabilities this May so it's 1500 furnaces would be fully operational very soon.

"Apple's partner in China will be receiving about $50 million in sapphire materials every month once the Arizona facility is fully operational," the UBS report was quoted by Apple Insider as saying.

Essentially, the report confirmed the mass entry of sapphire into Apple's iOS device supply chain though according to CNET, the material's exact role is yet to be defined by the iPhone maker.

Apple CEO Tim Cook merely referred to its sapphire deal with GT as part of 'a secret project', the tech site added.

Yet the consensus among Apple watchers is - sapphire will replace Corning Gorilla Glass as the mainstay iPhone glass cover starting in the iPhone 6. The shift, experts said, will render the next iPhone lighter, thinner and scratch-free during its life-cycle.

Meanwhile, any doubts that iOS 8 will power the iPhone 6 on debut time have been further brushed aside by reports coming from Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac.

In a new report, Gurman stressed that Apple will surely reveal the iOS 7.1 replacement come its 2014 WWDC in June, thus positioning the software to be unpacked with the iPhone 6. But there is a catch as not all the reported iOS 8 feature upgrades will make the final cut in time.

So some of the rumoured new iPhone and iPad features will have to wait until the iOS 8.1 arrival, perhaps later this 2014. However, the 9to5Mac report did not mention the specific features that will be put on hold.

Also, Gurman also pointed to Apple's decision to pour more resources in the development of Mac OS X 10.10 as the likely reason for the delay.

Regardless, it appears now that iOS 8 and sapphire glass cover and coating will be on board with the iPhone 6 release date, the 4.7-inch version of which is slated for September 2014 at the earliest.