The next iPhone is not expected to be delayed like this year because the worse supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic are behind us.
That’s the gist of a new research note issued to clients Monday by TFI International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, obtained by 9to5Mac, MacRumors and AppleInsider. In it, the analysts predicts that the next iPhone’s mass production schedule will be the same as that for the iPhone XS family. As a result, there’s a reasonable expectation that all iPhone 13 models should be available by September 2021 without any delays whatsoever.
From the report:
Kuo also says he has no concerns about the lower shipping forecast for the A14 chip produced by TSMC in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter of 2021. The analyst says this decline is ‘seasonal’ and expected as TSMC will begin shifting its production pipeline for developing the new A15 chip that will equip the iPhone 13 lineup.
He claims that iPhone 12 Pro sales remain strong and that demand for this year’s Pro models is better than expected, although Apple has been facing supply issues with the Sony camera sensors used for iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
The iPhone 12 lineup was not introduced and launched in September. Instead, Apple has unveiled the new phones via a prerecorded presentation that streamed in October. Also, not all four models hit the market simultaneously: The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro arrived first, in October, followed by the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max two weeks later in November.