iPhone 15 Pro could face ‘severe shortages’ at launch
Apple is reportedly facing production issues for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. A new report today says that these devices could face severe supply constraints in September due to Apple’s plans to significantly reduce the size of the bezel around the display.
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Today’s report comes from The Information, which cites “two people with direct knowledge of the issue.” The sources explain that Apple is “using a new manufacturing process” for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max displays.
As 9to5Mac has reported, both the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will offer dramatically slimmer bezels around the display. This means the devices will feature larger displays, while the physical size of the devices themselves will remain largely unchanged – if not slightly smaller.
The process of manufacturing these displays has reportedly revealed issues with displays made by LG. The problems were uncovered as Foxconn began the “risk ramp” stage of production. During this process, Foxconn makes “hundreds of thousands of units of the device to test how reliably they can build the product without defects.”
One person with direct knowledge said the LG-made displays have failed reliability tests after it goes through a new process known as low injection pressure overmolding or LIPO. The process involves Apple fusing the display into its metal shell prior to assembly. Apple is repeatedly tweaking the design of LG’s display so that it can pass the tests.
Apple is reportedly unlikely to delay the launch of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Instead, the company hopes to move forward with a release in September, just in limited quantities. “The problem is more pronounced with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, suggesting there will be a more severe shortage of that model than the iPhone 15 Pro,” the report says.
Displays made by Samsung are said to be unaffected by the problem, which means Apple can “continue to assemble a significant amount of units.”
The Information’s report follows an analyst report from Bank of America on Thursday morning, which also warned of potential iPhone 15 Pro delays. That same analyst also correctly predicted iPhone 12 delays in 2020.
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