In about two months, Apple will unveil the iPhone 14, but despite production and parts issues, Ming-Chi Kuo says nothing should be delayed. This is what’s going on.
Delivery issues iPhone 14
In a tweet, Kuo explains that he recently learned that some vendors of screens and memory chips for the iPhone 14 are experiencing “delivery issues.” However, he expects that this will only have a limited impact on mass production. So the leaked release date will still be correct.
As for LPDDR5 memory chips, Kuo says Samsung will be “almost the only supplier” by Q3 2022. However, the company is well positioned to ramp up production to meet parts demand. Two other Apple memory suppliers, Micron and SK Hynix, are unlikely to start shipping memory chips until the fourth quarter of 2022. This is because certification at Micron started late and SK Hynix had quality control issues.
Displays for iPhone 14 production
As for the OLED panels, Kuo believes that LG Display has problems with ‘the appearance’. Whether he means the image quality or really ‘the appearance’ remains unclear. Suppliers Samsung and BOE are expected to largely close this gap, while LG fixes the problem. A task that, according to Kuo, will not take long. BOE was only recently added to Apple’s panel supply chain. In July, the company got the green light to produce OLED panels for the upcoming iPhone 14.
Earlier in July, Kuo contradicted reports that TSMC had cut orders for iPhone 14 chips by 10 percent. Once again, he believes Apple is on track to meet expectations surrounding the release of the iPhone 14.
More about the iPhone 14
If the rumor mills are right, Apple has some interesting upgrades in store for the next-generation iPhone. Some of the more advanced features will likely remain exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro.
These probably consist of an A16 processor, an always-on display, and a circular and pill-shaped cutout for the front camera and Face ID (instead of the current notch).
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