Renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo took to Twitter today to point out the face that Apple has been facing problems with rear cameras on iPhone 14. Taiwan-based lens maker “Genius” is currently Apple’s go-to supplier for camera lenses. However, some of their recent stock has been plagued with coating and cracking issues.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) July 27, 2022 Essentially, the coating on the glass is cracking in a few models and this phenomenon has become frequent enough for Apple to recognize it as a real setback. In order to cope with the likely massive demand of the iPhone 14 and the coming influx of orders, Apple does have a Plan B already in place. Largan, another Taiwanese lens manufacturer has been contacted and given the order for Apple’s next shipment of iPhones, aka Q1 2023. According to Kuo’s estimates, it would take Genius about 2 months to solve the coating-crack issues, and in the meantime, Largan will be there will fulfil the inventory needs with an order of 10 million units. This isn’t the first roadblock Apple has hit when it comes to the iPhone 14 series. Things have been quite turbulent internally, in fact. Just a week ago, Kuo shed light on how the tech giant is facing supply issues with multiple components all around for the iPhone 14. But, Apple isn’t new to the game and they expect something could go wrong at any point. That’s why there’s always a backup option, one that could be relied upon if the Plan A fails. Moreover, orders for parts are placed months before that particular shipment is supposed to go into production. So, even if there is a last-minute shakeup, it doesn’t influence the current supply. Same is the case here. Despite serious hindrance, the coating issues on the rear cameras, or any other problem won’t affect shipments. It’s highly unlikely that any of this would cause Apple to delay the release of the iPhone 14 lineup. If anything, the company might limit the quantity available in stores but nothing too drastic. As for the iPhone 14 family itself, Apple is expected to launch 4 models, iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max, along with iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The “mini” iPhone will be dropped this year. On top of that, only the Pro models are set to get the major screen upgrades and the new A16 Bionic chip. The non-Pro models will retain most of the iPhone 13 hardware, with only incremental upgrades in the camera department, a larger battery and 6GB of RAM, up from 4GB. The iPhone 14 Pro models will also receive a new front camera that includes autofocus and a larger f/1.9 aperture lens for massively-improved low-light performance. Mass production for all iPhone 14 models is rumored to kick off in August and the aftermath of the supply issues is reported to only have a “limited impact” (if any) on the final shipments for this fall. Are you excited for the iPhone 14 series, or do you think it’s another skip year for you? Let us know in the comments down below!
